Linear cut-list calculator

Set up a cutting run

Enter one purchased stock length, blade kerf and total trim allowance at each end. Add each required finished length and quantity. Existing offcuts are optional finite stock: a row with quantity two supplies exactly two offcuts. All pieces in a run must have the same material, thickness and width. Repeat the calculation separately for another cross-section.

Use the measured available length, not an optimistic nominal length. The end-trim allowance includes all material removed by the trimming operation; the calculator does not add another kerf to it. Defects, clamping clearances, grain matching, bevels and miters need a separate allowance or a different plan. This is one-dimensional planning, not a plywood nesting tool.

How the planner fits pieces

A board’s usable length is stock length minus twice the per-end trim. The planner allows one kerf between adjacent pieces. If material remains after the last piece, it allocates up to one further kerf to separate the offcut; that blade can extend beyond the stock end. A final piece that reaches the usable end needs no extra separating cut. Starts and ends are measured from the original board’s left end after accounting for the left trim.

Several deterministic orders try best-fitting pieces into available boards and offcuts. The chosen plan first minimizes the number of purchased boards among those trials, then the total length of stock used. This heuristic can miss a better arrangement. For identical purchased boards with no entered offcuts, a volume-and-kerf lower bound can sometimes prove the displayed board count is minimal; the result says when that bound is met.

Worked example

Nine 24 in slats on 96 in stock with a ⅛ in kerf and no end trim need three boards. Four 24 in slats would require 96⅜ in just to include the three separating kerfs, so only three fit per board. Three pieces occupy 72¼ in through the final piece; the final separating cut uses another ⅛ in, leaving a 23⅝ in offcut.

Every part must appear once, each finite offcut can be used once, and piece lengths plus saw loss, trims and remainder must reconcile to the stock length. The planner supports up to 300 pieces and 30 required-length rows. Its diagrams show relative lengths; they are not actual-size cutting templates.

Continue planning

Send purchased board count and stock length to the board-foot calculator, then enter the actual billing cross-section and price. For repeated slats, use the equal-spacing calculator to find count and marking positions first.