Melamine is the workhorse of cabinet boxes: a particleboard or MDF core with a hard decorative face that needs no finish. It cuts like plywood on paper, but two things change the layout. Full sheets come oversize, usually 49 × 97 inches, and the face chips if the blade or the sheet is set up wrong.
This page is already set to a 49 × 97″ sheet of 3/4″ melamine with a 1/8″ kerf and a 1/2″ trim on every edge, which leaves a clean 48 × 96″ to nest in. Enter a parts list and CutBore nests it, counts the sheets, and numbers every rip and crosscut.
The live tool at the top is the same optimizer as /app, with no account and no run limit. Jobs stay in this browser. If you want a printable shop packet and part labels, that is CutBore Pro, not a requirement to nest a sheet.
How to use the melamine calculator
Before you type a single part. Decide whether the color is a solid or a woodgrain print, and enter cut sizes, not finished sizes. Then check three things:
Keep the 1/2″ trim. The factory edges of a melamine sheet are usually chipped from handling. The 1/2″ trim keeps every part off them, so each one starts from a clean cut. Leave it unless your supplier ships sheets cut to an exact 48 × 96″.
Grain only for woodgrain prints. A white, gray or black solid has no direction, so let every part rotate; that freedom is often what saves a sheet. A woodgrain print reads like veneer, so lock grain on doors, drawer fronts and exposed sides.
Banding comes off the cut size. If a shelf finishes 28 1/2″ with 1 mm banding on both ends, enter the size before banding. CutBore does not subtract banding from the nest.
Step 1: Confirm the 49 × 97″ sheet
The chip in the toolbar is the preset: 3/4″ melamine, 1/8″ kerf, 1/2″ trim. If your sheets are 4 × 8 exactly, or you also cut a 1/4″ back, change it in the full optimizer.
Step 2: Enter the parts
Name, length, width, quantity. Type 23 3/4 or 603 mm. On a solid color leave rotation on. On a woodgrain print, lock grain on anything that shows.
Step 3: Read sheets, then the saw list
The nest updates as you type. Sheet count is what you buy. The numbered cuts on the diagram match the saw list, so you rip and crosscut in order.
Sheet size, grain and chip-out on melamine
Why 49 × 97″. Melamine is sold an inch oversize so you can trim off the edge that got chipped in the warehouse and on the truck and still get full 48 × 96″ worth of parts. CutBore applies the trim as a keep-out on all four sides: 1/2″ each side takes 49 × 97″ down to a clean 48 × 96″.
Grain. Solid colors are free to rotate, so CutBore can turn any part 90° to fit. Woodgrain prints get grain lock: the part length runs with the 97″ print and the part will not turn, so the doors and sides match.
Chip-out. Chip-out happens on the face where the teeth exit the sheet. On a table saw the teeth come down through the top, so the face that shows goes up and the chips land on the underside; with a circular saw or a track saw it is the other way, good face down. When both faces show, use a scoring blade or make a shallow scoring pass first.
Use a sharp blade made for laminate. A triple-chip or high-alternate-top-bevel blade with a low hook angle cuts melamine cleanly; a dull rip blade chips both faces no matter which way the sheet goes. Measure its kerf on a scrap and enter that.
Melamine cut list calculator FAQ
Why is melamine 49 × 97 instead of 48 × 96?
So you can trim off the chipped factory edge. Melamine edges get damaged in handling, and the extra inch lets you take 1/2″ off every side and still nest a full 48 × 96″. This calculator starts with that 1/2″ trim already set.
Should melamine parts be allowed to rotate?
On a solid color, yes. White, gray or black melamine has no direction, so let every part rotate and the nest will use the sheet better. On a woodgrain print, lock grain on doors, drawer fronts and exposed sides so the print runs the same way on all of them.
Which face goes up when cutting melamine on a table saw?
The good face goes up on a table saw. The teeth come down through the top, so any chip-out lands on the underside. With a circular saw or a track saw, put the good face down. If both faces show, score first or use a scoring blade.
What kerf should I use for melamine?
Most full-kerf table saw blades take about 1/8″, which is what this page starts with. Thin-kerf and track saw blades are closer to 3/32″. Rip a scrap partway, measure the slot, and enter that number.
Can I nest 2800 × 2070 mm or other metric melamine sheets?
Yes. Switch the job to millimetres and open the full optimizer to set your sheet size. Sizes already entered convert, and the trim and kerf carry over.