Sheet cutting calculator: how many sheets
Parts, the sheet size and the saw kerf give the number of sheets and a guillotine cutting plan, with or without rotating the parts.
Your figures
Result
The figures changed. Press “Calculate again” to see the new result.
Building material catalogue — 34 materials in the catalogue
How we calculate it
What you enter
- Sheet width (mm)
- Sheet length (mm)
- Saw kerf (mm)
- Pieces: w×l×qty (mm)
- Rotate pieces
What to watch out for
Guillotine cutting: every cut runs right across the sheet, the way a panel saw works. Turn rotation off when the sheet has a grain or a directional pattern.
Formula
1. Expand the list into individual parts and sort them by area, largest first.
2. Each part lands in the free rectangle with the smallest leftover (best-area-fit),
rotated by 90° if Rotate pieces is on.
3. A guillotine cut splits the used rectangle into a right and a bottom offcut,
each shrunk by Saw kerf.
4. When a part fits nowhere, a new sheet is opened.
actual waste = (boards × Sheet width × Sheet length − Σ parts) ÷ (boards × Sheet width × Sheet length) × 100%The site's engine is a 1:1 port of the Android app's code.
Frequently asked questions
How many sheets will my parts take?
The calculator places the parts largest first into the free rectangle with the smallest leftover. When nothing fits any more, it opens another sheet, and that is what you buy.
When should you turn rotation off?
When the board has a grain or a directional pattern. A rotated part would then run visibly the wrong way even though the size fits.
Other calculators
Guides that use this calculator
The same formula in the app LiczMat for Android uses the same engine offline — with the material catalogue and results saved into a project. Download