Determining Book Board Cutting Quotes

Note: Beginning March 17, 2024 we will no longer be accepting custom cutting orders for Davey Board. Unfortunately, this product has been discountined at the mill. We apologize for the inconvience.  We are still doing custom cutting for all of our Standard Boards.

Most of our custom board cutting is done on an electric guillotine cutter shown above. The parent sheets we use are 26" x 38" (Standard Board) and grain direction runs long.

Because of the consistency in thickness and dimensions of our board, cutting charges are based primarily on the number of parent sheets required to fulfill the cutting request. We back-cut all board pieces, meaning we cut each side twice, to assure the boards are cut square. Although we attempt to be as accurate as possible, calibrating each dimension using a hand operated gauge may result in a slight variance of approximately 1/32”.  For this reason, it is suggested that you do not use our board cutting service for cutting pieces that require absolutely precise measurements of less than 1/16".  

To get the most out of our services, we encourage you to consider placing orders that will maximize at least one full parent sheet of book board. Many of those who use our services are ordering more than just a few pieces. Typically, depending on the size of the pieces, our orders range from about 10 to 100 or more pieces per size.  

The quote you receive from us will include the cost of the book board plus the cutting charges. The combined cost is based on various factors listed below. Our custom cutting quotes do not include shipping. Those charges are determined separately by weight and zip code. The shipping charge is calculated for you on our checkout page.  Most custom cutting orders will take several days before we can cut and ship the order. 

How We Determine Your Quote: 

A standard set-up charge of $10 applies for each cutting order or each size requested. This fee may be waived when $50 or more worth of board is required. The minimum charge for any board cutting service is $25.

1. Determine the size of the pieces you want us to cut and then round up by 1/2” for each dimension. For example, a measurement of 5 3/8" x 7" becomes 5 7/8" x 7 1/2" for our purposes only. The extra 1/2" is needed in our calculations so we can back-cut each piece on the guillotine. This assures that each piece is cut as square as possible.

IMPORTANT: The measurement you submit for your quote should be the EXACT measurement you want us to cut. DO NOT use the rounded-up measurement when you submit your custom cutting quote. Measurements should be listed at 1/16" increments only (i.e. 1/16", 1/8", 3/16", 1/4", 5/16" etc.)

2. Determine and indicate the grain direction of the board pieces to be cut. It will run either long or short. Most often the grain runs long. For example, if you are making a book that is vertical or has a portrait orientation (which are most books), the grain direction should run the same direction as the spine. In this case the spine pieces and cover boards should both be requested as grain long.  

If the book is horizontal, such as a landscape oriented guest book or photo album, the grain of the spine should still run long, however, the cover boards should run short. (In our example, the 5 3/8" spine would run grain long, but the landscape oriented cover boards (5 3/8" x 7") should be listed as grain short.

3. Enter the quantity of pieces required. You may enter up to three measurements for the same board type. If you would like a different board type, or are including more than three measurements you will need to submit a second custom cutting quote request.

4. To calculate how many pieces can be obtained from a full parent sheet (using Standard Board and our example measurements of 5 3/8" x 7"), divide the width of short direction of the pieces (6") into the 26" width of the parent sheet. This will equal 4. Next, divide the long direction (7 1/2") length into 38" length. This equals 5.  This means we can cut 20 pieces out of a single parent sheet of Standard Board. (4 x 5 = 20)

5. The following are the costs per parent sheet used for the various types of board.  (See # 6. Small Pieces Additional Fees for other charges when requesting orders of 20 pieces per parent sheet or more.)

.060 Standard Board
       - $9.00 per sheet for up to the use of 10 parent sheets
       - $8.00 per sheet for over 10 parent sheets 

.090 Standard Book Board: 
      - $10.00 per sheet for up to the use of 10 parent sheets  
      - $9.00 per sheet for over 10 parent sheets

.100 Standard Book Board:
      - $12.00 per sheet for up to the use of 10 parent sheets  
      - $11.00 per sheet for over 10 parent sheets  

6. Small Pieces and Multiple Sizes.  Cutting small pieces including spines, pieces under 3" or 4", multiple sizes, and other factors may add to the cost of cutting. The cost will need to be determined. (TBD)

The small pieces fees are listed below are a general guideline. We reserve the right to make adjustments in your quote, depending on the specific order.

20 to 29 - $10; 30 to 39 - $25; 40 to 49 - $35; 50 to 59 - $45; 60 to 69 - $55; 70 to 79 - $65; Over 80 - $75 or TBD

Spines - TBD Generally, for one size only and small orders (under 40 pieces), this fee may be waived. 

7. Cutting Limitations

We may contact you regarding limitations on what is feasible for us to cut, such as very large quantities, pieces that are too small for our cutter, or other unusual requests. For example, we cannot cut curved or angled pieces. We cannot drill holes in the book board. 

Also, our guillotine does not back-cut pieces under ¾”, resulting in a slight bevel along one long edge. This usually occurs with spine requests, but the result is basically insignificant.

Important Note: Because we use a hand gauge for measuring fractions of an inch, cutting precise measurements of less than 1/32" is not feasible. Please recognize the possibility that some cut pieces may exhibit a very slight variation of approximately 1/32”. 

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Approximate weight per parent sheet for shipping purposes only:

.060 Standard Board - 1.5 lbs
.090 Standard Board - 2.0 lbs
.100 Standard Board - 2.25 lbs