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The Workbench · Free Tools

Workshop tools.

The calculators I actually use at the bench, free for anyone building something. Sized for a phone with sawdust on it. Want the piece built for you instead? Get an instant estimate.

Tool 01 — Board Feet

Board-foot calculator

Punch in the board, get the board feet. Dimensions take decimals or fractions — 7.25 and 7 1/4 both work.

Board feet

BF

Enter width and length to size it up.

Which deal is better
Board A
/BF
— BF
Board B
/BF
— BF

One board foot is a piece 12″ wide × 12″ long × 1″ thick — thickness × width × length in inches, divided by 144.

Tool 02 — Cut List

Cut-list optimizer

Tell it your stock length and every cut you need — it packs them onto the fewest boards, kerf included, and draws you the cutting diagram.

boards waste of stock used

First-fit-decreasing packing with one kerf between neighbouring cuts (n cuts = n−1 kerfs per board). Waste counts kerf and offcuts. Real boards have knots and snipe — buy one extra.

Tool 03 — Wood Movement

Wood movement calculator

Wood never stops moving across the grain. Size the gap before the panel splits the frame — by species, cut and season.

Expected movement

Enter a width to see the swing.

ΔW = width × coefficient × ΔMC, coefficients from the USFS Wood Handbook; real boards vary. Across-the-grain only — length movement is negligible.

Tool 04 — Shop Reference

Fractions & pilot holes

The two lookups everyone does from the lumber aisle: convert anything to anything, and drill the right hole the first time.

Converted

Type a measurement above.

ScrewMajor diaClearancePilot — softwoodPilot — hardwood
#40.112″7/64″1/16″5/64″
#60.138″9/64″1/16″3/32″
#80.164″11/64″5/64″7/64″
#100.190″13/64″3/32″1/8″
#120.216″7/32″7/64″9/64″
#140.242″1/4″1/8″5/32″

Guide values for tapered wood screws (major dia ≈ 0.060″ + 0.013″ × gauge). Dense hardwoods: go up 1/64″. Always countersink near board ends.

The tools are free. The furniture's for sale.

If the math says "just buy it built" — that's what I'm here for.