Plywood cutting calculator
How many sheets of plywood does the job need? Enter your parts in inches and the calculator lays them out on 4×8 sheets with the blade kerf between them, so you buy the right number the first time.
Plywood cutting calculator
The sample is a bookcase. Change the parts, tap a sheet size, and press Calculate.
Why the area math comes up short
Adding up the square feet of your parts and dividing by 32 for a 4×8 sheet assumes the parts fit together with no gaps. They don’t: long sides and shelves leave strips you can’t use, and every cut takes a blade’s width. On a job with big parts, the area math is often a whole sheet short. The yellow line under the result shows what the area math would have said.
Common sheet sizes
| Size | In inches | Common for |
|---|---|---|
| 4 × 8 ft | 48 × 96 | Plywood, MDF, particleboard, OSB, melamine |
| 4 × 10 ft | 48 × 120 | Longer cabinet sides and countertops |
| 5 × 5 ft | 60 × 60 | Baltic birch plywood |
| 49 × 97 | 49 × 97 | Some MDF and melamine, sold slightly oversize |
Use the size your supplier actually sells, and measure a sheet if you’re cutting close to the edge.
Cutting the sheets
Set your blade kerf
About 1/8" for a full-kerf blade, 3/32" for thin-kerf. The kerf guide shows how a sixteenth can cost a part per row.
Keep the grain
Untick “Parts can turn” for show faces, so doors and drawer fronts all run the same way.
Cut it on a saw
For a table saw or track saw, the panel saw cutting list only makes layouts with edge-to-edge cuts.
Questions
Try it on your own job
Free, in your browser, no account. Your cut list stays on your computer.