What offcut and remnant stock means
An offcut is the usable piece left over after you cut a part from a sheet: a half panel, a long strip, or any rectangle big enough to get another part out of. Remnant stock is simply your running pile of those offcuts, the panels you set aside because they were too good to throw away. Most cut list tools ignore them and plan every project on fresh full sheets, which quietly buries money in your offcut pile. cutlistlab treats those leftovers as real inventory the optimizer is allowed to cut into.
How cutlistlab uses offcuts first
When you run the optimizer, it does not start by reaching for a new sheet. It looks at the offcuts and remnant panels you have already entered and tries to place your parts on those first. Only when a part will not fit on any leftover does it open a full sheet. Because each remnant is a smaller, oddly sized rectangle, the optimizer rotates parts to fit (unless the grain is fixed) and packs around the edges you already paid for.
The kerf is part of this. A leftover that looks exactly big enough is often not, once the blade takes its width out of each cut. cutlistlab subtracts the kerf on offcuts the same way it does on full sheets, so a remnant is only used when the part truly fits. That keeps the plan honest instead of leaving you a few millimeters short at the saw.
How to use it
- Add your offcuts. Enter each leftover panel with its length and width (and how many you have). These become your remnant stock for this project.
- Enter your parts. Add each part you need with its length, width and quantity, and a name so it is easy to match at the saw.
- Set the kerf and grain. Enter the width your blade removes per cut, and mark any part whose grain has to stay fixed.
- Run the optimizer. cutlistlab fills your offcuts first, then opens as few full sheets as it needs, and shows the layout as a drawing with the cuts in order.
- Save the new leftovers. When the plan leaves usable pieces, save them back to your remnant stock so the next project starts with them already on the list.
Sitting on a pile of good offcuts? Open the free optimizer, add your remnants, and let it cut into them before any new sheet. No sign-up, nothing to install.
A worked example
Suppose you saved a 600 × 400 mm offcut from an earlier build and now you need a few small parts for a drawer box. You add the offcut to your stock alongside a full sheet, and the optimizer tries the leftover first before it touches anything new.
| Part | Size (mm) | Qty | Goes on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drawer side | 380 × 140 | 2 | 600 × 400 offcut |
| Drawer front | 280 × 140 | 1 | 600 × 400 offcut |
| Drawer base | 360 × 280 | 1 | new sheet |
In this example the two sides and the front all land on the old 600 × 400 offcut, and only the wider base needs a fresh sheet to be opened. That keeps your full-sheet count down and turns a leftover you were saving into finished parts. The exact split depends on your sizes and kerf, so read it as roughly what to expect rather than a fixed outcome.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as an offcut or remnant?
Any usable leftover panel: a half sheet, a strip, or any rectangle a part will fit on. You enter its size and cutlistlab treats it as stock the optimizer can use.
Does the optimizer really use offcuts before full sheets?
Yes. Parts go onto your existing offcuts first, and a full sheet is opened only when a part fits nowhere else. That is what lowers your sheet count.
Does it account for the saw blade kerf?
Yes. The kerf is included on offcuts and full sheets alike, so a leftover that looks just big enough is not counted short.
What happens to the leftovers from this project?
Usable pieces can be saved back to your remnant stock, so your next project starts with them on the list and uses them first.