How To Compute Board Feet Of Lumber

Computation of board foot.

How to compute board feet of lumber. If you know the board feet measurement of each board and you know how much the lumberyard charges per board foot you can determine the appropriate cost for that board. We sell most of our lumber by the board foot. A board foot is actually a measure of volume. For instance if the two boards above were oak and you know that the lumberyard charges 18 per board foot for oak in the first example above the cost for the board in the first example should be 90 5 bf x 18 per bf 90.

By definition one board foot of lumber is one square foot that is one inch thickif you would like to convert regular volume units into board feet use the following relation. L x w x t 144. While it may seem confusing its actually pretty easy to calculate how many board feet of lumber. A single board foot is equivalent to 1 square foot of lumber that is 1 inch thick meaning it has a length of 12 inches a width of 12 inches and a thickness of 1 inch.

This board foot calculator is a free to use tool for converting your dimensions into board feet the standard of measurement in the lumber industry. The amount of lumber is expressed in terms of board feet. We also have a listing of the most common dimensions of lumber and their equivilent board foot measurement. Go here to find out.

By definition a board foot is one square foot one inch thick. Unlike square footage the board footage is a measurement of volumeit is used when purchasing multiple boards of lumber in various sizes. Dont know what board feet are. To calculate board footage use the following formulas.

Board feet is a measurement of the volume of lumber often used by wholesalers and sawmills in canada and the united states. A board foot is a piece of lumber 1 foot 12 inches long 1 foot wide and 1 inch thick which is equal to 144 cubic inches. If there is a specific project calling for a certain amount of wood youll need to know how many trees to remove. Lectures by walter lewin.

Then divide the total by 144 for the total board footage of a given board. Simply input your dimensions and click calculate. If all dimensions are expressed in inches the amount in board feet is equal to. What is a board foot.

A single board foot of lumber measures 1 inch thick 12 inches wide and 12 inches long. Board feet calculations and tables provide estimates only and may under or over estimate the usable board feet from the actual tree.