Plywood cutting calculator: how many sheets you actually need

Why the area calculation lies

A 2440 × 1220 mm sheet is 2.98 m². If your parts add up to 2.60 m² it looks like everything fits. It rarely does: rectangles do not tessellate without gaps, every pass removes kerf, and damaged edges get trimmed away first.

Realistic yield on furniture work runs between 75% and 90%. So the useful question is never "how much area do I need" but "how do these exact parts land on these exact sheets".

A worked example

A 1800 × 900 × 350 mm shelving unit in 18 mm sheet stock: 2 sides at 1800 × 350, 4 shelves at 864 × 350, 1 back at 1782 × 882 and 1 plinth at 864 × 100.

Part area: 1.26 + 1.21 + 1.57 + 0.09 = 4.13 m². Two sheets give 5.95 m², so on paper there is plenty. What decides the purchase is whether the 1782 mm back fits alongside two 1800 mm sides: three parts that long do not share a 2440 mm run, so the back claims its own region of the sheet.

With a 3 mm kerf and 10 mm edge trim the real layout still lands on two sheets with a usable offcut. That is the answer you need before paying: two sheets, not "2.60 m²".

Do it without the arithmetic

Enter the parts (or import a CSV), define your sheets, then set kerf, edge trim, grain and priority. Fabivo lays the parts out with guillotine cuts and reports sheets used, waste area, pass count and unfitted parts.

• Change one dimension and re-optimize to see whether you save a sheet.
• Raise the kerf to your real blade width and check the last part still fits.
• Try the "fewer cuts" priority when you are cutting alone by hand.
• Work in mm, cm or inches, whichever your supplier quotes.

From the number to the cut

The output is more than a count: it includes the diagram per sheet, the numbered cut order and exports in PDF, PNG, SVG and CSV for the shop or the supplier.