Cutting plywood: planning a cut list

Lock Grain direction on plywood whose face will be seen: furniture, cabinet sides, doors and shelves. Parts then keep their length along the sheet length, which for most sheets is the direction of the face grain. Enter each part with length along the grain — a tall door is length 1800, width 450, not the other way round.

For hidden or structural parts — carcass backs out of sight, jigs, packing — grain may not matter; put them on a separate board without the lock if they can come from a different sheet.

Check the sheet itself: some plywood is made with the face grain across the width. If so, enter the board so that its length is the grain direction.

Softwood and hardwood plywood is commonly sold at 2440 × 1220 mm. Birch plywood is often made in other formats, including square 1525 × 1525 mm sheets and 2500 × 1250 mm sheets. None of these is a problem for the optimiser, but entering 8x4 for a 1525 × 1525 sheet gives a plan for a board you do not have. Add your own board with the real size — see standard sheet sizes.

Plywood thickness is often a little under its nominal value. It does not change the layout, but it does change a groove, a housing or a machine file. Measure a sheet and enter it as Actual thickness, mm on the board before adding machining.

The face veneer can splinter where the blade exits. A scoring blade, a fine-tooth blade or tape along the cut line reduces it. None of these changes the kerf much, but measure it on your saw — see saw kerf — and use trim if the factory edges are damaged.

Exposed plywood edges show the plies, which some designs use as a feature. Otherwise band them with matching veneer tape; mark the banded sides on each part and the result totals the metres — see edge banding.