Plan your cuts in seconds. Enter your boards, your saw kerf, and the cuts you need — get an optimized cutting plan with waste percentage. No signup, no paywall.
A cut list calculator turns "I need these pieces" into "buy these boards and cut them like this." It packs your cuts onto standard-length lumber to minimize the number of boards you have to buy and the scrap left behind.
The flow is always the same:
1. Enter the stock length you can buy at the store — most dimensional lumber comes in 8 ft, 10 ft, or 12 ft.
2. Enter the kerf — the width of material your saw removes per cut. A standard circular-saw blade is about 1/8 inch (0.125").
3. Add each cut you need: a name, the nominal size of the lumber it comes from (2x4, 1x6, etc.), the length in inches, and how many you need.
4. The calculator runs a First Fit Decreasing bin-pack and shows you the cutting plan: which board, in what order, with kerf accounted for.
What is kerf, and why does it matter?
Kerf is the slot of wood your blade turns into sawdust. Every saw has one, and it changes the math: if you cut a 96" board into two 48" pieces, you'll come up short by one kerf width. For tight cut lists this is the difference between getting all your pieces from one board and needing two.
If you're not sure, leave the default at 0.125". It's the safe bet for most home shops.
Tips for cleaner cuts
• Leave the longest cut for last on each board. The plan here orders cuts longest-first per board, which gives you a useful offcut at the end rather than a sliver.
• Check for crooks and bows before cutting. Real lumber isn't perfectly straight — eyeball each board and put your most important cuts on the straightest sections.
• Mark with a "V" not a single line. A V-mark points to the exact cut location and shows which side of the line is the keep piece.
• Always cut a hair long, then sand or trim. Easier to remove material than to add it back.
FAQ
Can I save my cut list?
Not on this page — it's no-signup by design. Use Print → Save as PDF to keep a copy. For per-project cut lists with materials sourcing and step-by-step build instructions, download the Fixie iOS app.