The Workshop

Free tools, references, and help to plan your build — from the same shop that draws the plans. Every tool here is free to use, no account, no limits: run your numbers, get a real cut list or spec sheet, and email it to yourself for the lumber run.

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New tools land here first — one email when they do, nothing else.

✅ You’re on the list — I’ll email you when it drops. — Jamison
Plus my weekly project ideas. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Free tools

📏 FreeNew Cut List Optimizer Paste your cut list, get sheet-by-sheet layouts, a numbered cut order grouped by fence setting, printable cut sheets, and part labels. Open → 🏗️ Free Pergola Calculator Length, width, height in — lumber list, cut list, concrete, hardware, and a cost estimate out. Imperial or metric, bracket or traditional build. Open → 🌱 Free Raised Garden Bed Soil Calculator Exactly how much soil to buy — cubic feet, yards, and bags — plus a custom cut list to build the bed itself. Open → 📚 Free Floating Shelf Calculator Size our hidden-frame shelf to any wall: rib layout, full cut list, board-by-board cutting layouts, and a lumber shopping list. Open → 🧱 Free Retaining Wall Calculator Blocks or 6×6 timbers: courses, reinforcement schedule, footing and drainage gravel, and the full shopping list. Open → 🪨 Free Paver Patio Calculator Paver count with cut waste, base and chip-stone yards, dig depth drawn to scale, poly sand, and edging. Open → 🔨 Free Deck Material Calculator Joists, beams, decking, and hardware for a floating or attached deck — it lives inside the deck build guides. Open →

Every tool follows the same rules: free without an email, real lumber math (actual board dimensions, saw kerf, waste factors), and a one-click email that sends your numbers — not a brochure.

Coming soon

📑 Coming soon Cheat Sheets Shop references you’ll actually use at the saw: a board-foot calculator, an inch-fraction ⇌ metric converter, and printable guides. 🛠️ Coming soon Deck Planner The Deck Material Calculator’s big brother: draw your deck, get code-checked framing, stairs, and a permit-ready drawing set.
✅ You’re on the list — I’ll email you when it drops. — Jamison
✅ You’re on the list — I’ll email you when it drops. — Jamison
Ready to build? Browse all 196 printable plans → See the plans

What is The Workshop?

It’s the doing side of Rogue Engineer. The plans store is where you buy a finished design; the project guides are where you read how we built ours. The Workshop is where you work: size a build to your space, optimize a cut list, and walk out with numbers you can hand to the lumber yard. The tools talk to each other, too — planners hand their cut lists straight to the Cut List Optimizer, which turns them into board-by-board layouts and printable cut sheets.

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