Plywood sheet question

[TrailRat]

I have at my disposal a lot of 8'x5', quarter inch plywood. Nothing fancy, just the cheap and cheerful stuff. I plan to make a load of storage crates for the loft and was curious as to what is the best way to work out how many pieces of how many boxes I would get out of one sheet of ply. I'm working in divison of 6 inches to make the math easier. So the boxes would be 18" deep, 12" wide and 24" long. Also the lid would have to be included in the math, as would the base board. These would be 12" x 24" each.

I'm trying to figure out how many boxes to each sheet I could get. Any ideas??

Many Thanks

TR

[Lobby Dosser]

While you're making the math easier, don't forget the saw kerf - ~1/8".

Google 'cutlist software'.

[JGS]

[Enoch Root]

Well, if every box has six sides and, if you don't mind having ~1'x8' scraps each board could be used to make two square boxes if you divide it lengthwise in three (two 2' sections, with 1' of waste) and widthwise in four.

You could use the 1'x8' scraps for a different size box, or make something else with them.

er

[Lew Hodgett]

Oldest trick in the world.

Get some graph paper, make some scale paper dolls and go to work.

Lew

[TrailRat]

Yes, checked it twice. I think it's unique to the UK. Not sure what the Americans get though so I can't give an honest opinion.

JGS wrote:

[DonkeyHody]

First, reduce each dimension by 1/4" to allow for saw kerfs.

That gives you 17 3/4 X 11 3/4 X 23 3/4. Then you'll get 3 boxes from each sheet with very little waste.

If you stick to your original dimensions, you'll only be able to get 2

1/3 boxes from each sheet (3 sheets yields 7 boxes).

DonkeyHody

[DonkeyHody]

Every now and then, this newsgroup really pays off.

With Google's delay in posting, I had already answered his question before I saw your answer.

I've been using CAD to do layout, and thought I was pretty good at it. But I've spent countless hours agonizing over how to avoid buying another sheet of plywood.

I downloaded the free version of Cutlist and went throught the tutorial. I'm mighty impressed.

Give a hungry man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him to fish and he will never be hungry again.

I gave him a fish. You taught us both to fish.

Thanks for the tip.

DonkeyHody "Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement."