Board Foot Calculator
A board foot is 144 cubic inches of lumber, so the board foot calculation runs thickness in inches by width in inches by length, divided by 144 when the length is in inches or by 12 when the length is in feet. This board foot calculator totals a whole cut list rather than one board at a time, reads sawmill quarter notation such as 4/4 and 8/4 then prices the order per board foot. It also prints what that list measures once planed, a lower count than the mill bills.
Hardwood is sold by the board foot, not by the piece. Leave 0 if you only want the volume.
Total board feet in this cut list
44 bd ft
| Board | Pieces | Bd ft each | Bd ft total | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/4 × 6" × 8ft (1") | 6 | 4 | 24 | $156.00 |
| 4/4 × 8" × 6ft (1") | 4 | 4 | 16 | $104.00 |
| 8/4 × 4" × 3ft (2") | 2 | 2 | 4 | $26.00 |
| Total | 12 | 44 | $286.00 |
Rough thickness is what you pay for
Hardwood is tallied at its rough sawn thickness. A 4/4 board measures a full inch off the saw but only about 3/4 in once it is surfaced two sides, so a board foot count taken from a planed board comes up short against the mill's ticket.
Same cut list measured after S2S surfacing: 33.5 bd ft (−10.5, $68.25)
Board feet to linear feet
78 linear ft
Linear feet only count length, so they change with the width of the stock. Yards quoting per linear foot are quoting for one specific width.
Examples
How to use
- 1
Add one row per batch of identical boards, then fill in thickness, width in inches, length and how many pieces. Write the thickness the way the yard writes it, 4/4 for one inch or 8/4 for two. The decimal it used appears in small type beside any row typed in quarters.
- 2
Switch the length unit to feet or inches so it matches the quote in hand, then type the price per board foot. Leave it at 0 when only the volume is wanted.
- 3
Read the board feet per row before trusting the total, since a row far from its neighbors usually means a thickness typed as 8 instead of 8/4. The amber panel underneath gives the same list measured after S2S planing along with what the gap costs.
- 4
Export the cut list as CSV or TXT to hand over at the counter. The share link reopens the page with every row already filled in for whoever prices it next.
How do you calculate a board foot?
One board foot holds 144 cubic inches of wood, the volume of a piece 1 inch thick by 12 inches wide by 12 inches long. Yards and mills call that count the board foot measure. The board foot calculation runs thickness × width × length, divided by 144 when the length is in inches or by 12 when the length is in feet.
Six 4/4 boards 6 inches wide by 8 feet long work out at 1 × 6 × 8 ÷ 12 = 4 board feet each. Two further rows bring that cut list to 44 board feet over 12 pieces and $286.00 at $6.50 per board foot.
What do 4/4, 5/4 and 8/4 mean on a lumber tag?
Hardwood yards quote rough thickness in quarters of an inch, so the tag reads 4/4 for one inch, 5/4 for an inch and a quarter, 6/4 for an inch and a half, 8/4 for two inches and 12/4 for three.
Reading 8/4 as eight inches is the expensive slip, since a quote built on that reading still looks ordinary. Three pieces of 8/4 stock 6 inches wide by 48 inches long hold 12 board feet, $144 at $12 a board foot. Typed as 8 inches thick they return 48 board feet and a $576 quote, four times the wood on the trailer.
Why a planed board measures less than the mill bills
A caliper on a finished 4/4 board reads about 3/4 inch, while the tally sheet still carries the full inch that came off the saw blade. That missing quarter inch went out as planer shavings, S2S in yard shorthand for surfaced on two sides, though the mill bills the rough size all the same.
Measured on its planed faces, the same 44 board foot list comes back as 33.5 board feet, a shortfall of 10.5 board feet worth $68.25 at $6.50 a foot. The size that counts on the invoice is the one printed on the tag.
How many board feet are in common dimensional lumber?
A nominal 2x4 measures 1.5 by 3.5 inches once it has been dried and planed, so an 8 foot stud holds 3.5 board feet against the 5.33 board feet on the ticket.
| Nominal board | Actual size (in) | Board feet billed | Board feet held |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1x4x8 | 0.75 × 3.5 | 2.67 | 1.75 |
| 1x6x8 | 0.75 × 5.5 | 4.00 | 2.75 |
| 2x4x8 | 1.5 × 3.5 | 5.33 | 3.50 |
| 2x4x10 | 1.5 × 3.5 | 6.67 | 4.38 |
| 2x6x8 | 1.5 × 5.5 | 8.00 | 5.50 |
| 2x6x12 | 1.5 × 5.5 | 12.00 | 8.25 |
| 2x8x10 | 1.5 × 7.25 | 13.33 | 9.06 |
| 4x4x8 | 3.5 × 3.5 | 10.67 | 8.17 |
The bill therefore runs about 52 percent above the wood in the stack, which on a 500 stud order means roughly 2,667 board feet charged for 1,750 board feet delivered.
Nominal names date from green rough sawn stock. The planed sizes shrank underneath the label while the names stayed, so the gap is a naming convention rather than an extra charge.
How to convert board feet to linear feet
There is no fixed factor for board feet to linear feet, because a linear foot counts length alone and ignores the cross section, meaning the thickness and width of the piece. Dividing 12 by thickness × width in inches gives the linear feet held in one board foot.
The 44 board foot list comes to 78 linear feet, the figure that decides whether the stock fits a rack or a pickup bed.
How much will 200 board feet cover?
200 board feet is a volume rather than an area, so the question only has an answer once a finished thickness is fixed. Those 28,800 cubic inches spread to 200 square feet at 1 inch thick and to 267 square feet at 3/4 inch.
Jointing and trimming take 15 to 20 percent off a rough order, leaving nearer 225 square feet. Boards carrying wane, the strip of bark edge left where the log rounded off, lose more.
Does a log board foot calculator use the same formula?
No. A log board foot calculator runs on a log rule instead, an estimate of the lumber a sawyer can recover from a round section once the slabs and the saw kerf, the wood the blade turns to sawdust, have come out. It asks for the small end diameter inside the bark and the log length, then applies Doyle, Scribner or International 1/4-inch.
The three rules disagree widely on small logs, a gap that lands straight on the ticket price. A 16 inch log 12 feet long scales at 108 board feet under Doyle against about 180 under International 1/4-inch.
Doyle dates from the 1820s and undercounts small timber, which is why buyers favor it while sellers push for International.
Parameters
Every field of this tool can be prefilled from the URL. Use these query parameters:
| Parameter | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
| thicknesses | string | 4/4, 4/4, 8/4 |
| widths | string | 6, 8, 4 |
| lengths | string | 8, 6, 3 |
| quantities | string | 6, 4, 2 |
| lengthUnit | ft | in | ft |
| pricePerBf | number | 6.5 |
Example : https://www.veltotools.com/home/board-foot-calculator?thicknesses=4%2F4%2C+4%2F4%2C+8%2F4&widths=6%2C+8%2C+4&lengths=8%2C+6%2C+3&quantities=6%2C+4%2C+2&lengthUnit=ft&pricePerBf=6.5
API
The same tool is available as a free JSON API, with the same parameters as above. No key, no sign-up.
Frequently asked questions
Updated Aug 10, 2026