Cutting plan & shopping list (PDF)
Work out which standard boards and sheets to buy, what they cost and where to cut each part, for one design or a whole class.
- Cutting plan & shopping list (PDF)Export menu
The cutting plan tells you what to buy and how to cut it. It works out which standard boards and sheets you need and what they cost. Then it draws where each part is cut from each board, leaving room for the saw cut. Type how many students are making the design, and it plans the timber for the whole class.
How to use it#
- Give every part a material: right-click the part in the Parts list and choose one, such as Radiata Pine or Plywood. Parts with no material are left out.
- Click Export, then Cutting plan & shopping list (PDF). You can also click Cutting plan and shopping list… under the total in the Parts list, or Cutting plan in the design Check.
- Type how many to make in Make … of this design, and the Saw cut in mm.
- Read the shopping list and the cutting diagrams.
- Click Download PDF, or Shopping list (CSV) for a spreadsheet.
What it shows#
- The shopping list: what to Buy, its Size, How many, the price Each and the Cost, with the total. For a class set, it also shows about how much each one costs.
- Board diagrams for each kind of board, such as DAR pine 140 × 19. Each drawing is one board, with the parts cut from it, their lengths and what is spare. × 3 means cut three boards the same way. Shaded parts are narrower than the board: rip them to width (saw them along their length).
- Sheet layouts: where each part goes on each sheet.
- Warnings, such as a part that is longer than any standard board.
DAR means dressed all round: timber planed smooth on all four sides.
What can be bought#
| Material | Bought as |
|---|---|
| Radiata Pine | DAR boards 19 mm thick (42, 64, 89, 140, 184, 235 or 285 mm wide) or 42 × 42 mm, in 1.2, 1.8 and 2.4 m lengths. |
| Plywood, Veneered MDF | Sheets of 2400 × 1200, 1200 × 600 or 900 × 600 mm. |
| Acrylic, Polypropylene | Sheets of 1200 × 600, 900 × 600 or 600 × 400 mm. |
| Other materials | Listed with their size and an estimated cost. |
For sheets, SchoolCAD picks the sheet size that wastes the least. Prices are classroom estimates.
Tips#
- Make pine parts a standard size: 19 mm thick and a standard width. The design Check lists parts that are not.
- The Saw cut is the width the saw blade turns into sawdust (the kerf). It starts at 3 mm.
- For the size of every part, use the cut list.
If it does not work#
- There are no parts to plan yet. There are no visible parts.
- … is not cut from a standard board: change it to a standard width or thickness, or glue it up. The pine part is not 19 mm thick (or 42 × 42 mm), or it is wider than 285 mm.
- … longer than any standard board. The part is longer than 2.4 m. Make it shorter, or join two boards.
- … is bigger than a standard sheet. Make the part smaller, or make it from two pieces.
- A part is missing. Give it a material, and check that it is not hidden.