Free · runs in your browser · nothing uploaded
Cut list calculator
Enter your parts and your stock length. Get back which board each piece comes from, in cutting order, with the saw kerf subtracted for every cut — the arithmetic mistake that ruins the most boards.
Parts
One per line: length × quantity, with an optional name.
Everything in the same unit.
Your boards
The layout appears here — each board drawn to scale, parts in cutting order.
Cut list from https://sketchmethis.com/cutlist — free, no signup, kerf subtracted.
Why your boards run out early
A 2400 mm board looks like exactly four 600 mm shelves. It isn't. Every cut turns a slice of wood into sawdust, and that slice — the kerf — comes out of the board, not out of thin air. With a 3 mm blade you need 600 × 4 + 3 × 3 = 2409 mm to get four shelves off one board. You are 9 mm short, and you find out at the fourth cut.
That is the entire reason this page exists. The calculator above subtracts the kerf for every cut except the one flush with the board's end, so the board count it gives you is the board count you actually buy.
Typical saw kerf widths
Measure your own blade if you can — kerf varies with blade, set and how the tooth is ground. These are the usual ranges to start from:
| Saw | Typical kerf | Imperial |
|---|---|---|
| Table saw, full kerf blade | 3.2 mm | 1/8 in |
| Table saw, thin kerf blade | 2.4 mm | 3/32 in |
| Circular saw | 2.0–3.0 mm | 5/64–1/8 in |
| Track saw | 2.2 mm | ≈3/32 in |
| Mitre saw | 2.4–3.2 mm | 3/32–1/8 in |
| Jigsaw | 1.5–2.5 mm | 1/16–3/32 in |
| Bandsaw (narrow blade) | 0.5–1.5 mm | 1/50–1/16 in |
| Western hand saw | 0.7–1.0 mm | ≈1/32 in |
| Japanese pull saw | 0.3–0.6 mm | ≈1/64 in |
| CNC router | = bit diameter | e.g. 6 mm bit → 6 mm |
A shop that cuts your panels for you often has a wider blade than yours — ask, and use their number rather than this table.
How the layout is worked out
The calculator sorts your parts longest-first and puts each one on the first board it still fits on — first-fit-decreasing, the standard heuristic for one-dimensional bin packing. It is not guaranteed to find the theoretical minimum, but for real cut lists it lands on it or within one board, and it produces a cutting order you can follow down the board without re-measuring.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, stored or sent anywhere, and there is no signup.
Put it on your own site
If you write about woodworking, you are welcome to embed this calculator. It is free, it stays free, it sends nothing to a server, and it needs no attribution beyond the link that is already in the frame:
<iframe src="https://sketchmethis.com/embed/cutlist"
width="100%" height="720" loading="lazy"
style="border:1px solid #ddd;border-radius:6px"
title="Cut list calculator"></iframe>Questions
Does it handle sheet goods, like plywood?
No — this is a one-dimensional optimiser, for parts cut along the length of a board or a batten. Sheet goods are a two-dimensional problem: a 600 × 400 mm panel out of a 2440 × 1220 mm sheet has to be nested in both directions, and the grain direction constrains which rotations are allowed.
Why is the offcut waste percentage so high?
It is measured against the total board length you buy, not against the last board. Two boards to make four 600 mm shelves means one board is nearly untouched, so the figure looks alarming. It is telling you something true: buy a different stock length and the number falls.
Should I add a bit extra to each part?
If you are cutting to final size, yes — many people add 1–2 mm per part and trim to fit. Add it to the part length before entering it. The calculator takes the numbers you give it literally, which is the point.
Can I share a layout?
Yes. Once you have laid out the boards, the page's address contains the whole cut list — copy it with the button, and whoever opens it sees the same layout without typing anything.
This tool does one dimension. The real problem is three.
A linear cut list is the easy part. The board that actually gets ruined is the one where the width maths went wrong — the shelf that needed to be 874 mm because two 19 mm sides each swallow 6 mm of dado. Sketch Me This is a tool being built to do that part: sketch or describe a piece of furniture, get the dimensioned drawings and the full cut list with the joinery already subtracted.