Grain and edge banding

Grain direction

Sheet material with a visible wood grain has that grain running one way. Put two shelves side by side whose grain differs by a quarter turn and you see it immediately. For MDF and particle board it does not matter; for veneered plywood and wood-look melamine it does.

Per part you choose one of three settings. Click the grain cell in the list to cycle through them.

free (may rotate)

The piece may rotate. The tool uses that to save sheet, and puts a rotation arrow in the plan. This is the default.

along the length

The grain runs along the long side of the piece. The piece may not rotate.

along the width

The grain runs along the short side. Here too the piece may not rotate.

A fixed grain costs sheet. A piece that may not rotate fits less often, and sometimes not at all: then it gets the badge grain. Only fix the grain where you really see it, for instance on doors and sides, not on a bottom that disappears inside the cabinet.

Edge banding

Edge banding is the narrow strip you iron or glue onto a cut edge, so the core is no longer visible. It makes the piece thicker on that side, and the cutting size has to account for that.

Tap a side to cycle the banding: none → apply yourself → already applied → none. With apply yourself the cut size gets smaller (the banding brings it to final size). With already applied (pre-banded or offcut sheet) the cut size stays the same; you simply measure the banding along with it.

None

No banding on this side. No edge banding: cut size equals the final size.

apply yourself

You apply the banding yourself. The cutting size shrinks by the banding thickness, so after banding you land exactly on the size you typed.

already applied

The banding is already there, for instance on a factory edge or an offcut. The cutting size stays the same; you simply measure the banding along with it.

All sides

Give all four sides the same setting in one click, instead of tapping them separately. On a shelf that is finished all round that saves three clicks per part.

Band thickness

How thick your banding is. Common is 0.4 to 2 mm. This number decides how much the cutting size shrinks.

At the bottom of the banding window it shows the outcome: Cut size 31 1/2 (final size 32). So you see straight away what has to go under your saw.

Factory edges of the sheet

A melamine sheet is often sold with two or four finished edges. If a piece lands with its edge on such a sheet edge, no banding is needed there. That saves metres of banding and work.

Set that on the sheet with Set pre-banded sheet edges (factory edge): 2 long edges or 4 edges. The tool accounts for it automatically and reports it in the plan: In this layout, the left side lands on a pre-banded sheet edge. That saves 7 ft of banding, already deducted from what you need.