Cut-list basics: parts, stock, kerf & yield
The four numbers that decide how many sheets you buy — and how Cabsmith’s optimizer squeezes the most out of every board.
A cut list is just two lists and two settings: the parts you need, the stock you have, the kerf your saw eats, and the priority you optimize for. Get those right and the optimizer does the rest.
Parts
A part is a finished panel: a width, a height, a quantity and — optionally — a material, thickness and grain rule. Parts only nest together when they share a material and thickness, so be consistent with how you name materials.
Stock
Stock is what you cut from: full sheets, half sheets, or usable offcuts you saved from a previous job. Give each stock a real size and a quantity. A quantity of 0 means “as many as needed”, which is what you want when buying fresh sheets.
Factory sheet edges are rarely square. Set a minimum trim so the optimizer keeps parts a few millimetres off the raw edge, then square one corner before you start cutting.
Kerf
Kerf is the material your blade turns into dust — typically 3 mm on a table saw, less on a thin-kerf or CNC bit. Every cut consumes one kerf width. Cabsmith reserves it between parts, so a layout that looks like it just fits on screen still fits in the shop.
Yield & priority
Yield is the share of each sheet that becomes parts rather than offcut. The optimizer can chase three goals:
- Least waste — pack the tightest, highest-yield nest (the default).
- Least cuts — fewer, longer cuts for faster breakdown, even if yield drops slightly.
- Mixed — a balance of the two.
The nest above hits about 92% yield on a single sheet. In practice, accounting for kerf and grain often changes which priority wins — so try all three on a real job and compare the sheet count.
Cabsmith Pro can run two optimizations and show them next to each other, so you can see exactly what a different priority or sheet size costs you in boards.
Try it on your next job
Free to download, free to cut with — no account needed.