Buildy Buddy

When to Use This Calculator

Use the Sheet Goods Cut Optimizer when building cabinets, shelving, furniture, or any project requiring multiple rectangular pieces cut from plywood, MDF, melamine, or other sheet stock. It is especially useful for projects with many different-sized parts where manual layout planning becomes tedious and error-prone, often resulting in wasted material and extra trips to the lumber yard.

How It Works

Enter your full cut list — the width and height of every piece you need — along with the sheet dimensions and blade kerf. The optimizer uses nesting algorithms to arrange your parts onto as few full sheets as possible, minimizing wasted material. It generates a visual cut diagram for each sheet that you can reference at the saw, and it factors in blade kerf so your finished parts come out to the correct dimensions.

Tips for Best Results

• Group parts by material thickness and type — you cannot mix 3/4" plywood cuts with 1/2" MDF on the same sheet layout.
• If your sheet stock has a visible grain direction, note which parts need grain-matched orientation and plan accordingly.
• Order one extra sheet beyond what the optimizer calculates as insurance against measuring or cutting mistakes, especially on expensive sheet goods like hardwood plywood.
• Double-check all dimensions before cutting. A small error in the cut list compounds quickly when multiple parts are nested together on a single sheet.