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Timber Board Feet Calculator

Work out timber board feet instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Timber Board Feet Calculator

A board foot is a volume of 144 cubic inches, one inch thick by twelve inches square. Working in mixed units, board feet per piece is thickness in inches times width in inches times length in feet, divided by twelve. It is the standard unit for hardwood pricing in North America.

Formulas

Board feet

bd ft = thickness in x width in x length ft / 12

Metric

m³ = board feet x 0.00236

Worked example

With the default values below, Timber Board Feet Calculator returns Total board feet of 200.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Thicknessminimum 0.1 in
2 in
Widthminimum 0.1 in
6 in
Lengthminimum 0.1 ft
10 ft
Number of piecesminimum 1
20

Results

Total board feet
200.00 bd ft
Board feet per piece
10.000 bd ft
Volume in cubic metres
0.4719 m³
Total lineal feet
200.0 ft

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Board feet
  3. 3Metric
  4. 4Total board feet= 200.00 bd ft
  5. 5Board feet per piece= 10.000 bd ft
  6. 6Volume in cubic metres= 0.4719 m³
  7. 7Total lineal feet= 200.0 ft

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the Timber Board Feet figure worked out?

bd ft = thickness in x width in x length ft / 12. A board foot is a volume of 144 cubic inches, one inch thick by twelve inches square.

Are board feet based on rough or finished size?

Rough sawn size, before planing. A nominal two by six is quoted as 2 x 6 for board feet even though it dresses to about 1.5 by 5.5 inches.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 4 inputs: Thickness, Width, Length, Number of pieces. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic worked example — replace them with your own site or project figures.

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Timber Board Feet Calculator – Calculate Total board feet