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Woodworking Cut List Optimizer

Enter your stock and cut sizes to optimize the list.

How it is calculated

All pieces are the same length and are cut one after another from each board. A saw cut is only needed between pieces, so n pieces take n × cut + (n − 1) × kerf of board. The number of pieces per board is therefore floor((stock + kerf) ÷ (cut + kerf)).

Boards needed = ceil(quantity ÷ pieces per board). Waste per board = stock − pieces × cut − (pieces − 1) × kerf for a full board. Total waste counts every full board that way, but the last board is worked out separately from the pieces it actually holds, so its larger offcut is included. Enter stock length, cut length and kerf in the same unit (the waste is labelled in inches); kerf may be left empty, which counts as 0. A quantity with a fraction is rounded up to whole pieces. A piece longer than the board shows no result. Only one cut length is handled at a time.

Worked example

You buy 96 in boards and need 14 pieces of 24 in. The blade kerf is 0.125 in.

Pieces per board = floor((96 + 0.125) ÷ (24 + 0.125)) = floor(3.98) = 3. Four pieces would need 4 × 24 + 3 × 0.125 = 96.375 in, which is just too long. Boards needed = ceil(14 ÷ 3) = 5 boards. Waste per full board = 96 − 72 − 2 × 0.125 = 23.75 in. The fifth board holds only 2 pieces, so its waste is 96 − 48 − 0.125 = 47.875 in. Total waste = 4 × 23.75 + 47.875 = 142.88 in.

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Common mistakes

  • Ignoring the kerf. With a kerf of 0 the same job fits four 24 in pieces on a 96 in board and needs 4 boards; with a 1/8 in kerf it needs 5.
  • Mixing units, for example stock in feet and cuts in inches. Use the same unit for stock, cut and kerf.
  • Entering the finished size of the part when the cut length must include trim or planing allowance.
  • Adding the kerf to the cut length yourself. The tool already adds it between pieces, so doing it again overstates the need.
  • Reading total waste as a sum of identical boards. The last board is usually only partly used, so the total is larger than boards × waste per board. Also, a mix of lengths is not optimised; run each size separately.

About this calculator

The woodworking cut list optimizer works out how many stock boards are needed to produce a given quantity of equal-length cuts, accounting for saw kerf — the small strip of material (typically 1/8 in / 3 mm for a table saw blade) actually removed and lost with every cut. It fits as many cut pieces plus their kerf allowances as possible onto each stock board's length, then reports the number of boards required and the leftover waste per board.

Ignoring kerf is a classic beginner's mistake: on a long cut list, the accumulated width of dozens of saw cuts can silently eat up enough material that the last board comes up short by exactly one piece. Woodworkers, cabinet makers, and small workshop or sawmill operators use this optimizer before cutting to buy the correct number of boards and minimize offcut waste, rather than guessing and running short mid-project.

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  • Editorial team

    Boards rarely arrive usable edge to edge. If you will square off both ends and trim a couple of inches of cracked or damaged wood, type the length that remains after trimming as the stock length, for example 92 rather than 96. That can change how many pieces fit per board. The tool handles one cut length at a time. Do you have projects with mixed lengths that you would like to see covered?

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