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Math

Board Feet Lumber Calculator

The board foot (BF) is the standard unit for buying and estimating lumber in North America — one piece measuring 1 ft × 1 ft × 1 in thick equals 1 BF. The formula BF = (T_in × W_in × L_ft) ⁄ 12 converts any board to BF so you can interpret merchant quotes, total your cost and estimate volume. This tool takes thickness, width, length, piece count and optional price per BF and instantly returns BF per piece, total BF, volume (ft³ and m³) and total cost — a daily-use tool for DIY homeowners, woodshops, furniture builders and sawmills.

Total board feet

Total cost

BF = (T_in × W_in × L_ft) ⁄ 12

Per NHLA "Rules for the Measurement and Inspection of Hardwood" and USDA FPL Wood Handbook. 1 BF = 144 in³ = 1 ft × 1 ft × 1 in.

Formula

BF = (T_in × W_in × L_ft) ⁄ 12 ; total BF = BF × pieces ; 1 BF = 144 in³ = 0.002359737 m³

Frequently asked

A "2 × 4 × 8" calculates to 5.33 BF, but the merchant only charges $4 — why isn't the price $4 × 5.33 = $21.32?

Two reasons: (1) the $4 quote is **per piece** and already includes the BF math and margin — about $0.75/BF, which is the typical price band for SPF (spruce-pine-fir) softwood. (2) "2 × 4" is a **nominal** dimension; the actual is 1.5 × 3.5 in, so the real BF = (1.5 × 3.5 × 8) ⁄ 12 = 3.5 BF (≈ $1.14/BF). The BF formula should always use the actual dimension. For DIYers buying standard dried softwood, just memorise the per-piece price (e.g. "$4 for a 2×4×8") and skip the BF recompute. But hardwood (oak, walnut) is always priced per BF because every board has different thickness, width and length — the merchant quotes "$5/BF oak" and you pick your own boards.

I am building a dining table out of 1.5 in thick × 12 in wide × 5 ft long boards — 4 of them. How many board feet should I order?

Per board: BF = (1.5 × 12 × 5) ⁄ 12 = 7.5 BF; 4 boards × 7.5 = 30 BF net. Order +15% waste (edging, ripping, defects) = 35 BF; for fine furniture with routed edges, +25% = 38 BF. Oak at 35 BF × $6/BF ≈ $210; walnut at 35 BF × $12/BF ≈ $420. Other things to think about: (a) board width — a clear 12 in wide board may be hard to find, you might need to glue up two 6 in pieces, adding more rip waste; (b) grain direction — cross-grain vs long-grain affects how you cut; (c) thickness allowance — buying 8/4 (2 in) rough and planing to 1.5 in is more stable than buying 6/4 surfaced, but you "waste" 0.5 in of thickness. Final step: when quoting, tell the merchant your piece count explicitly. Otherwise they may give you 30 BF as five 6-BF boards (instead of your needed four 7.5-BF pieces, which would not yield your design).

How do board feet, cubic feet and cubic metres convert?

Key equivalences: (1) 1 ft³ = 12 BF (because 12 in × 12 in × 12 in equals twelve 1 ft × 1 ft × 1 in slabs), (2) 1 m³ ≈ 423.78 BF, (3) 1 BF = 144 in³ = 1 ⁄ 12 ft³ ≈ 0.002359737 m³ ≈ 2.36 L. International merchants typically quote in m³ (especially exporters of tropical hardwood like teak and mahogany); North-American retail is always in BF. Example: your 30 BF table lumber = 30 ⁄ 12 = 2.5 ft³ = 30 × 0.002359737 ≈ 0.071 m³. A European sawmill quoting "oak at €800/m³" works out to ≈ €1.89/BF ≈ $2.05 USD/BF (2025 rates) — much cheaper than the $5/BF North-American retail, but you must add freight and import duty. The tool reports all three units side-by-side for easy comparison.

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