02/10/2026
How to Make a Cutting List for Kitchen Cabinets (Step by Step)
Every cabinet starts the same way. Before you touch the saw, you need a cutting list: every part, its size, and how many to cut.
Get it right and the cabinet goes together like it should. Get one number wrong and you've wasted a sheet. I've done it. Everyone who builds cabinets has done it.
So let's go through one together. We'll take a normal kitchen base cabinet and work out every part, step by step. I'll show you the maths. Once you've done one, the rest work the same way.
What you need first
You only need a few numbers to start. Here's what we'll use:
What
Our cabinet
Why it matters
Width
600 mm
Sets the size of the bottom, shelf and doors
Height
780 mm
Sets the size of the sides and doors
Depth
560 mm
Sets the size of the sides and bottom
Board
18 mm
You'll take this off some parts. More on that soon
Back
4 mm ply, in a groove
It needs its own line on the list
One tip: work in millimetres. No fractions, no mess. It's also how board is sold and cut, so you won't have to convert anything.
Let's build the list: a 600 × 780 base cabinet
We'll go part by part. Grab a pencil if you want to follow along.
Sides (cut 2): 780 × 560. Easy one. The sides go the full height and the full depth, so you just use the cabinet's own sizes.
Bottom (cut 1): 564 × 560. This is where people slip up. The bottom sits between the two sides, so you take off both sides' thickness: 600 − 18 − 18 = 564.
Shelf (cut 1): 564 × 534. Same width as the bottom, for the same reason. It's a little less deep, so it sits back from the front.
Doors (cut 2): 776 × 297. Doors are cut a bit smaller than the cabinet, so they open and close without rubbing. Height: 780 − 4 = 776. Width of each door: (600 − 6) ÷ 2 = 297.
That's it. Here's your list for the 18 mm board:
Part
Size (mm)
How many
Side
780 × 560
2
Bottom
564 × 560
1
Shelf
564 × 534
1
Door
776 × 297
2
Write the long side first, then the short side, on every line. Your cutter, or the cutting shop, will read it the same way. No confusion, no wrong cuts.
The bits people forget
The board parts are only half the job. There are three more things to put on your list.
The back. If you're using 4 mm ply in a groove, give it its own line. Size it to fit inside the grooves, not to the outside of the cabinet. Too big and it won't go in. Too small and it rattles.
Edge banding. Mark which edges need banding with a short code. L means a long edge, W means a short edge, and the number says how many. So 1L is just one long edge, and 2L 2W is all four edges, like a door. Then add it up. One 776 × 297 door banded all round needs 2 × 776 + 2 × 297 = 2,146 mm. That's about 2.15 m. Do the same for every banded part, and now you know how much to buy.
Hardware. Write it down now, while the cabinet's fresh in your head. You'll thank yourself later:
Hinges for each door
Handles
Shelf pins
Legs
Screws
Mistakes I see all the time
Most wasted sheets come from the same five slips. I've made every one of them at some point.
The mistake
What goes wrong
How to stop it
Forgetting the board thickness
A bottom cut to 600 won't fit between the sides
Take off 18 mm for each side the part sits between
Forgetting the back groove
The back rattles, or won't go in at all
Size the back to the grooves, not the outside
Turning a door to fit the sheet
The grain on one door runs the wrong way
Keep doors the same way up when you lay out the sheet
Guessing the edge banding
You run out halfway, or buy too much
Add it up from each part's edge code
Missing or doubling a part
One side short, or a door cut twice
Check every number on the list before you cut
Or let the computer do the maths
One cabinet by hand is fine. A whole kitchen is a different story. That's dozens of parts, and every one needs the same care.
I got tired of doing it by hand, so I built Flasta Cut. You pick the cabinet, type in the width and height, and it gives you:
Every part, with the board thickness already taken off
Sheet layouts that fit your parts in tight, so you waste less board
Grain-lock, so your doors never get turned the wrong way
Your edge banding, added up for you
A hardware list: hinges, handles, slides, screws and the rest
A PDF or CSV to take to the saw or send to the cutting shop
Got a list in a notebook, or a sketch from a site visit? Take a photo, and the AI scan turns it into a proper list.
