Why bother optimizing the cheapest panel?
Particle board sells for less than half the price of plywood, so the temptation is to over-buy and not worry about waste. But cheap panels are heavy, awkward to transport, and unforgiving on the saw - you do not want to make extra trips back to the lumber yard for a sheet you did not have to buy. The same job that uses six sheets cut casually might come in at four or five with five minutes of optimization.
Particle board also cannot be re-glued or salvaged when you cut it wrong: it is a one-shot material, no second chances. The optimizer's job is to map every part to a sheet before any blade touches the panel, so you waste minutes of planning instead of dollars of panel.
Common particle board sheet sizes
| Sheet | mm | inches |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 2440 x 1220 | 96 x 48 |
| Cabinet shop oversize | 2440 x 1525 | 96 x 60 |
| European panel | 2800 x 2070 | 110 x 81 |
| Half-sheet | 1220 x 1220 | 48 x 48 |
Particle board cutting tips
Use a fine-tooth blade. 60-tooth ATB blades cut particle board cleanly. A framing blade will tear chunks out of the edges.
Account for sag. Particle board shelves sag under load over long spans. If you are calculating shelf parts, keep them under 30 inches between supports, or thicken to 3/4".
Edge band the visible edges. Raw particle board edges look terrible and absorb moisture. Banding adds its thickness to each banded edge - about 0.5 mm for iron-on veneer, up to 2 mm for PVC - so subtract it from the part size for each banded edge. Or switch on Edge banding under Settings, mark the taped edges in the parts list and enter the tape thickness: the optimizer does the subtraction and totals the tape.
Keep offcuts dry. Particle board swells dramatically when wet - a soaked offcut is unusable. Stack remnants flat in a dry spot, on edge if possible.
Do not bother with rotation lockouts. Most particle board has no visible grain and is structurally identical in both axes. Let the optimizer rotate freely and you will usually save a sheet.