Cutzilla blog
Cut less. Quote faster. Waste nothing — practical guides for the workshop.
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How to Price Labour on Cabinet Jobs
Materials are easy to price. Labour is where cabinet quotes quietly lose money. How to set an hourly rate, count the hours honestly and put both on a quote.
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Wood Shop Management Software: What a Small Shop Needs
Most small woodshops don't need an ERP system. They need quotes, cut lists and stock that agree with each other. What to look for, and what to leave out.
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Cabinet Cut List: A Worked Example for a Base Unit
How to turn one kitchen base unit into a cabinet cut list, part by part, with the sums, the grain and the edge banding worked out before the saw starts.
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From Cut List Spreadsheet to Cutting Plan
How to set up a cut list spreadsheet so it imports cleanly into an optimiser, with the columns to use, how to save it as CSV and the mistakes that break it.
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Sheet Optimiser or Pencil? When Software Earns Its Keep
Hand layouts are fine for small jobs. Here is where a sheet optimiser starts paying for itself, and where a pencil is still the quicker tool.
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How to Make a Cut List That Works at the Saw
How to make a cut list a cabinet shop can actually cut from: what goes in each column, finished vs cutting sizes, and the mistakes that ruin sheets.
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What It Really Costs to Build a Kitchen Cabinet
Board, edging, hardware, labour and the waste nobody prices. A line-by-line breakdown of one carcass, and where shops lose money without noticing.
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Free vs Paid Cut List Optimisers: What You Get
Free optimisers cut sheets perfectly well, so what does paying actually buy? An honest look at where free stops and what the money is really for.
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How Many Sheets of Plywood Do I Need?
Dividing part area by sheet area always under-counts. How to work out a real board count for a job before you order, and why the sum fools people.
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How to Do a Sheet-Materials Stocktake
Buying board you already own is a quiet margin leak. A practical way to count sheet stock, including offcuts, and keep the number true afterwards.
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How to Quote a Kitchen Faster (Without Guessing)
Kitchen quotes take evenings because the pricing work is layout work. How to get from measurements to a branded quote without doing the job twice.
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Saw Kerf: The 3mm That Eats Your Sheets
Every cut removes a blade's width of board, and over a full sheet that adds up to missing parts. What kerf costs, and how to lay out for it.
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Sheet Cutting Direction: Which Way First?
Cutting direction changes waste more than most shops expect. Why length-first defaults cost board, and when to lay a job out the other way round.
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Web vs Desktop Cutting Software for Small Shops
Desktop cutting suites are mature and capable. So why are small shops moving to the browser? An honest look at where each approach earns its keep.
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How to Choose a Sheet Cutting Strategy
Rip-first for clean strip cuts, or tightest yield with more complex cuts? How to pick the cutting strategy that suits your saw and your job.
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How to Reuse Workshop Offcuts and Cut Fewer Sheets
Stop stacking offcuts in a corner and start cutting from them. A practical system for storing, sizing and reusing offcuts so you buy fewer sheets.
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Track Sheet-Goods Inventory Without a Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet of sheet stock is out of date the moment you cut. How to track sheet goods and offcuts so you always know what board you actually have.
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What Is a Cut List Optimiser? A Shop Guide
A cut list optimiser arranges your parts on fewer sheets before you cut. What it does, why it saves money, and how to use one free.
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Good, Better, Best Quoting: Win More Jobs
A single price is a yes-or-no gamble. Three honest quote options turn 'whether' into 'which' and win more work. Here's the psychology and how to use it.
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How to Cut Plywood Waste on a Cut List
Cut fewer sheets without changing your saw. Practical ways to trim plywood waste on a cut list: part nesting, kerf, grain and reusing offcuts.