Every offcut is money you already paid for.
Sheet goods cost more every year, and whatever doesn’t become a part goes in the bin. Upcut nests parts by their real shapes, along the grain, with room for the bit — so more of every sheet ends up in the job.
Waste is the cost that never shows on an invoice.
You pay for the whole sheet. A layout that leaves gaps quietly adds to the price of every job — and the price of the sheet keeps going up.
- +56%Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, via FRED
US producer prices for plywood, September 2026 against January 2020.
- ~40%Source: WOODWEB cabinetmaking forum
of the cost of custom cabinets is material, as cabinet shops report their own books.
- 10–15%Source: Laguna Tools
less sheet waste from optimised nesting on typical casework, by one CNC maker’s estimate.
Laying out by hand, or nesting built for the machine.
Rectangles in a grid. Parts are boxed and lined up, so every curve and corner leaves a gap.
True-shape nesting. Parts nest by their real outlines, and small parts fill the gaps big ones leave.
Spacing by eye. Too tight and the bit can’t pass. Too loose and the sheet runs out early.
Spacing from your bit. Every part keeps a cutter’s width from its neighbours.
Grain as an afterthought. A panel comes off the machine with its grain the wrong way and gets cut again.
Along the grain. Parts follow the grain of the sheet, so every panel looks the way it should.
Parts that move. A small part breaks free on the last pass and takes the sheet with it.
Tabs and cut order. Tabs hold every part, and cuts are ordered so nothing shifts on a vacuum or T-track bed.
FAQs
How much material will I save?
It depends on your parts. Jobs with curves and odd sizes gain the most from true-shape nesting; plain rectangles gain less. The figures above are a fair guide to what shops see.
Will anything be cut without my approval?
No. Toolpaths wait for your review — each operation, its cutter and its depth — and nothing leaves Upcut for your machine until you export it yourself. Simulate and check every file before you run it.
Be one of the first to try Upcut.
Bring your agent into Upcut and make it yours. Leave your email and we’ll let you in as soon as we can.