How to start your first woodworking project in Sawdust

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Add lumber from My Shop, inspect the board on the workbench, run a first cut, and step through the build timeline.

Every Sawdust project is an ordered history of real woodworking operations: adding stock, making cuts on shop tools, and assembling the resulting pieces. This guide walks through adding your first board from My Shop, inspecting it on the workbench, and stepping through the build timeline.

1. Open My Shop and browse materials

Open the workshop and select My Shop in the left rail. My Shop organizes the lumber, sheet goods, hardware, fasteners, tools, blades, bits, and reusable procedures available to your builds.

My Shop home panel showing categories for Wood, Hardware, Fasteners, Components, Tools, Bits, Blades, Tool Lists, Materials Packs, Procedures, and Plans.

2. Add a board to the workbench

  1. In My Shop, open Wood and select a common framing or hardwood size such as 2x4.
  2. Choose a standard stock length such as 96" (eight feet) so your model starts from real nominal dimensions (1 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 96").
  3. Click + Add 2x4 @ 96" to place the board onto the workbench and record an add_stock step in your build.
My Shop Wood panel showing a 2x4 selected with length 96 inches and the + Add 2x4 @ 96" action button.
A 96-inch 2x4 board placed on the 3D workbench grid in Sawdust.

3. Try one cut and step through the timeline

Click the board in the 3D scene to inspect its dimensions, or switch to the Build tab and pick a tool from the bottom dock (such as the Miter saw or Table saw) to preview and commit a cut.

After committing the cut, use the timeline transport controls to step backward and forward between the uncut stock and the cut pieces. That operation history is what drives Sawdust's cut sheets, Show me how part walkthroughs, and build-guide videos.

Continue with How to inspect part geometry and dimensions in Sawdust and How to watch a part's fabrication with Show me how.