Rough Cut Panels(Beware of math below)

[Eric Cathell]

I am trying to get my workflow going with eCabinets. I am planning on rough cutting panels, then finish them on my tablesaw or with a router. In order to do this I am trying to leave about a 1/4" waste on each side of the panel for cleanup(eventually maybe only 1/8th). In order for the nesting diagrams to be accurate should I set my kerf to 1/2" So that adjoining pieces will have their own 1/4"? Also since the nesting diagram shows me the cutline but not the dimensions for the cutline, I would need to add the 1/4" to each cut right? Sorry if this is a n00b question, but I am a one man show and I dont have anyone to knock ideas off of, except in the forums.

[Jason Susnjara]

Hi Eric,

Welcome to the forum. This is going to depend on how many sides you will cut with a saw. If you are going to cut on all 4 sides of a part, then you will need to take the saw kerf (example .125") and multiply that by 2 which will equal .25". Then you will need to add .25 to each panel so your total would be saw kerf x 2 + .5" = .75". Is there a reason why you would like to leave .25" on each side of panel only to finish them on a saw or router? If using a router, there is a setting for "additional part clearance" that would need to be used. I am not an expert at cabinetry so if I have this wrong, hopefully someone will point that out.

[jerry johnson]

Eric, are you cutting these panels on a router or are you using a dimension saw? If you are not using a router you may want to print a cut list and cut your parts off of that instead of the nest diagram.

[Eric Cathell]

Yea I am hand cutting them with a circular saw and guide. Thats why I need to leave a little on to clean up afterwards. The router I am speaking of is a hand held router with a flush trim bit. I would clamp a mdf straightedge and trim the edges to the final width.

[jerry johnson]

I suggest you use the cut list and not the nest diagram. The nest diagram is optimized and works real well with a CNC macnine but, I think, it would be much faster to simply use the cut list. You will not be optimizing your material but you will save a ton of time. I know that material costs are important and we need to get the best yield we can but in my shop time (labor) costs much more than material. I am always looking to make a process simpler and faster even if it takes a little more material but there is a balance. Do what works best for you. Hope this helps.

[Michael S Murray]

Sounds like if you are at all serious abbout this businesss that you need to look into production sharing, or at least a decent table saw.If your using e-cabs for design, your not to far off from having a drawing ready for production sharing..

[Eric Cathell]

Sounds like if you are at all serious abbout this businesss that you need to look into production sharing, or at least a decent table saw.If your using e-cabs for design, your not to far off from having a drawing ready for production sharing..

That will definately be an option once things pickup and I am more production than hobby/consignment.

So I guess what I will do is take the nesting diagram, and use that as my optimization, but use the cutlist from excel and add my additional needed measurements. Cool. Thanks all.