So I took a gander at a high-end wood retailer today at lunch and came
across some stuff that I can't figure out. Some boards were sold as $x.yy
per board foot and others were sold as $x.yy per square foot. Why the
differences? It appeared as though the 1/2 boards were all sold square foot
and the 4/4, 8/4, and 16/4 boards were sold board foot. What exactly is a
board foot? I'm presuming that's what BF meant on the price - and none of
the wood was dimensioned.

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..
So I took a gander at a high-end wood retailer today at lunch and came
across some stuff that I can't figure out. Some boards were sold as $x.yy
per board foot and others were sold as $x.yy per square foot. Why the
differences? It appeared as though the 1/2 boards were all sold square
foot and the 4/4, 8/4, and 16/4 boards were sold board foot. What exactly
is a board foot? I'm presuming that's what BF meant on the price - and
none of the wood was dimensioned.

A board foot of 4/4 wood is 12 x 12 inches. A board foot of 8/4 wood is 6x6
inches, etc.
Boards thinner than 4/4 are usually sold by the square foot if for no other
reason that people
don't realize how much it costs. To make a 1/2 inch thick board, people
usually start with
4/4 and plane it down. The customer pays for the scrap.

Boards sold by the board foot need not be otherwise dimensioned.

And, hardwood is sold in random widths and random lengths. You pay plenty
for the scap if you want
specific widths and / or lengths.
Jim

Actually a "board foot", usually abreviated as FBM, is 144 cubic inches of
wood. So for stock that is nominally 12" wide a board foot would be 12" X
12" X 1". Hardwoods are usually sold as "X/4" where 4/4 = 1", 8/4= 2" etc.
So stock that is 8/4 would see a board that is 6" X 12" equal 1 FBM.

I would otherwise agree with what Jim said.
"Jim" wrote in message
. net...

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..
So I took a gander at a high-end wood retailer today at lunch and came
across some stuff that I can't figure out. Some boards were sold as
$x.yy per board foot and others were sold as $x.yy per square foot. Why
the differences? It appeared as though the 1/2 boards were all sold
square foot and the 4/4, 8/4, and 16/4 boards were sold board foot. What
exactly is a board foot? I'm presuming that's what BF meant on the
price - and none of the wood was dimensioned.

A board foot of 4/4 wood is 12 x 12 inches. A board foot of 8/4 wood is
6x6 inches, etc.
Boards thinner than 4/4 are usually sold by the square foot if for no
other reason that people
don't realize how much it costs. To make a 1/2 inch thick board, people
usually start with
4/4 and plane it down. The customer pays for the scrap.

Boards sold by the board foot need not be otherwise dimensioned.

And, hardwood is sold in random widths and random lengths. You pay plenty
for the scap if you want
specific widths and / or lengths.
Jim

"Jim" wrote in message
. net...

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..
So I took a gander at a high-end wood retailer today at lunch and came
across some stuff that I can't figure out. Some boards were sold as
$x.yy per board foot and others were sold as $x.yy per square foot. Why
the differences? It appeared as though the 1/2 boards were all sold
square foot and the 4/4, 8/4, and 16/4 boards were sold board foot. What
exactly is a board foot? I'm presuming that's what BF meant on the
price - and none of the wood was dimensioned.

A board foot of 4/4 wood is 12 x 12 inches. A board foot of 8/4 wood is
6x6 inches, etc.
Boards thinner than 4/4 are usually sold by the square foot if for no
other reason that people
don't realize how much it costs. To make a 1/2 inch thick board, people
usually start with
4/4 and plane it down. The customer pays for the scrap.

Boards sold by the board foot need not be otherwise dimensioned.

And, hardwood is sold in random widths and random lengths. You pay plenty
for the scap if you want
specific widths and / or lengths.
Jim

I'm sorry but I'm gonna pick at your response because I can't follow it.
you said 4/4 is 12x12 and 8/4 is 6x6 and then finished it with etc... I
don't understand. I see 4/4 as 1" thick so 12x12 would be a board foot -
makes sense. I see 8/4 as being 2" thick, so I see that as 2x6x6 which
isn't the same as 12x12x1" I really don't want to turn this isn't a math
problem - I just wanted to understand how it worked. If I follow your
example, 16/4 would be 3x3 per board foot.

Is it more like (12x1)x(12x1) and (6x2)x(6x2) and (3x4)x(3x4)? I'm just
asking because I want to sound somewhat intelligent when I go to pick up my
puny 4/4 white oak boards. At $4.25 a board foot it might add up, but not
really a 4/4 6" wide 8 foot board would be 4 board feet or 17 bucks! Pretty
cheap when you compare it to the 50 or 60 bucks the Borgs offer it for.

"Eigenvector" writes:
What exactly is a board foot?

A board foot is a VOLUME of 144 cubic inches of ROUGH wood. Picture a
1' by 1' by 1" slab of rough cut wood; that's a board foot. In fact,
go make one, write "BF" on it, and hang it in your shop. Make a
2"x6"x12" one to go next to it, and a 1"x6"x24" one too. They're all
a board foot.

A 1 foot cube of wood (1x1x1) is thus 12 board feet.

Some things are easier to sell by the linear foot, like mouldings.

Some things are easier to sell by the square foot, like plywood.

With surfaced wood, you have to figure it based on the original rough
size. Thus, a 1.5 x 3.5 x 8' board is 2 x 4 x (8*12) / 144 = 5.33 bf.

What I tend to do is figure out how long a board has to be to be a
board foot, then scale. Example: a 2x8 rough is 16 sq in, or 4/3 of a
sq ft. So a board foot is 3/4 of a foot of that board, or a 2x8 9"
long. A 9 foot length is thus 12bf.

A 2x6 or 1x12 is 1 bf per foot of length.

A 1x6 or 2x3 is 1 bf per two feet of length.

A 1x4 is 1 bf per 3 feet of length.

Etc.

I'm sorry but I'm gonna pick at your response because I can't follow it.
you said 4/4 is 12x12 and 8/4 is 6x6 and then finished it with etc... I
don't understand. I see 4/4 as 1" thick so 12x12 would be a board foot -
makes sense. I see 8/4 as being 2" thick, so I see that as 2x6x6 which
isn't the same as 12x12x1" I

I believe he intended to say a board foot of 8/5 would be 6 x 12
inches not 6 x 6.

On Aug 2, 8:55 pm, Mike in Arkansas wrote:
I'm sorry but I'm gonna pick at your response because I can't follow it.
you said 4/4 is 12x12 and 8/4 is 6x6 and then finished it with etc... I
don't understand. I see 4/4 as 1" thick so 12x12 would be a board foot -
makes sense. I see 8/4 as being 2" thick, so I see that as 2x6x6 which
isn't the same as 12x12x1" I

I believe he intended to say a board foot of 8/5 would be 6 x 12
inches not 6 x 6.

sorry, make that 8/4

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
I'm sorry but I'm gonna pick at your response because I can't follow it.
you said 4/4 is 12x12 and 8/4 is 6x6 and then finished it with etc... I
don't understand. I see 4/4 as 1" thick so 12x12 would be a board foot -
makes sense. I see 8/4 as being 2" thick, so I see that as 2x6x6 which
isn't the same as 12x12x1" I really don't want to turn this isn't a math
problem - I just wanted to understand how it worked. If I follow your
example, 16/4 would be 3x3 per board foot.

Is it more like (12x1)x(12x1) and (6x2)x(6x2) and (3x4)x(3x4)? I'm just
asking because I want to sound somewhat intelligent when I go to pick up
my puny 4/4 white oak boards. At $4.25 a board foot it might add up, but
not really a 4/4 6" wide 8 foot board would be 4 board feet or 17 bucks!
Pretty cheap when you compare it to the 50 or 60 bucks the Borgs offer it
for.


Jim was typing faster than he was thinking. 12 x 12 x 1 is a board foot
So is 6 x 12 x 2 a board foot. It is probably easier to think in terms of
144 cubic inches. Keep in mind, a board that is sitting on the shelf that
measures 12 x 12 x 3/4 was planed down so it will still be charged as a
board foot.

Just to confuse you more, some of the big box stores sell their wood by the
lineal foot. That way, a 6" wide board will cost roughly double per foot
compared to a 3" wide board.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..
So I took a gander at a high-end wood retailer today at lunch and came
across some stuff that I can't figure out. Some boards were sold as $x.yy
per board foot and others were sold as $x.yy per square foot. Why the
differences? It appeared as though the 1/2 boards were all sold square
foot and the 4/4, 8/4, and 16/4 boards were sold board foot. What exactly
is a board foot? I'm presuming that's what BF meant on the price - and
none of the wood was dimensioned.


BF is LxWxH in inches divided by 144. Hardwood is often sold in the
quarters system where 4/4=1" thick, 6/4= 1.5" thick, etc...
So as an example, a 4/4 board that measures 6" wide and 72" long would be:
1" (H) X 6" (W) X 72" = 432 cubic inches/144 cubic inches = 3BF.
Make sense?

"Eigenvector" wrote in message

I'm sorry but I'm gonna pick at your response because I can't follow it.

All you ever need to know, and more, in one place:

http://www.westwindhardwood.com/order_art.html

.... print it out, memorize it, put it on the shop wall, take it to heart,
you'll be glad you did.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 6/1/07
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"Swingman" wrote in message
...
"Eigenvector" wrote in message

I'm sorry but I'm gonna pick at your response because I can't follow it.

All you ever need to know, and more, in one place:

http://www.westwindhardwood.com/order_art.html

... print it out, memorize it, put it on the shop wall, take it to heart,
you'll be glad you did.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 6/1/07
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Thanks, that'll give me something to read.

"James "Cubby" Culbertson" wrote in message
. ..
BF is LxWxH in inches divided by 144. Hardwood is often sold in the
quarters system where 4/4=1" thick, 6/4= 1.5" thick, etc...
So as an example, a 4/4 board that measures 6" wide and 72" long would be:
1" (H) X 6" (W) X 72" = 432 cubic inches/144 cubic inches = 3BF.
Make sense?

What makes sense is to use the built-in terminology and screw the 144
business.

My pickup has 4 ft of 102" (8ft) boards per tier. Makes 32 my base. 4/4 is
the 32, 5/4 is 160(5x32)/4 = 40 . That way you can do your calcs in your
head if you're over forty, with a pencil if you're over thirty, or trust the
pimple-factory and his calculator if you're younger ....

I use a slight variation of the calculation -- for me it is easier to do in
my head while shopping for the lumber I want or need.
A x B x C
----------
12

Where A = thickness in inches B = width in inches C = length in feet

So for example I have a 4/4 piece of oak that is 6" wide and 8 feet long.
1 x 6 x 8
--------- = 4BF
12

Thom


"George" wrote in message
et...

"James "Cubby" Culbertson" wrote in message
. ..
BF is LxWxH in inches divided by 144. Hardwood is often sold in the
quarters system where 4/4=1" thick, 6/4= 1.5" thick, etc...
So as an example, a 4/4 board that measures 6" wide and 72" long would
be:
1" (H) X 6" (W) X 72" = 432 cubic inches/144 cubic inches = 3BF.
Make sense?

What makes sense is to use the built-in terminology and screw the 144
business.

My pickup has 4 ft of 102" (8ft) boards per tier. Makes 32 my base. 4/4
is
the 32, 5/4 is 160(5x32)/4 = 40 . That way you can do your calcs in your
head if you're over forty, with a pencil if you're over thirty, or trust
the
pimple-factory and his calculator if you're younger ....

On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 19:06:32 -0500, "Jim" wrote:


"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
So I took a gander at a high-end wood retailer today at lunch and came
across some stuff that I can't figure out. Some boards were sold as $x.yy
per board foot and others were sold as $x.yy per square foot. Why the
differences? It appeared as though the 1/2 boards were all sold square
foot and the 4/4, 8/4, and 16/4 boards were sold board foot. What exactly
is a board foot? I'm presuming that's what BF meant on the price - and
none of the wood was dimensioned.

A board foot of 4/4 wood is 12 x 12 inches. A board foot of 8/4 wood is 6x6
inches, etc.
Boards thinner than 4/4 are usually sold by the square foot if for no other
reason that people
don't realize how much it costs. To make a 1/2 inch thick board, people
usually start with
4/4 and plane it down. The customer pays for the scrap.

Boards sold by the board foot need not be otherwise dimensioned.

And, hardwood is sold in random widths and random lengths. You pay plenty
for the scap if you want
specific widths and / or lengths.
Jim

And then there's places that price by the POUND!
I was comparing pricing cocobolo and jarrah for a clients goblets and the CB was
available in 4" x 4" x 12" pieces for $40..
Ok, that's the kind of stuff I can understand... Maybe even calling it 16/16 or
something..
OTOH, the jarrah was $6 a pound???
I emailed them asking what the approximate weight of a 4x4x12" chunk of jarrah
was and got "about 8 or 10 pounds" as a reply.. hard to give a client a bid
based on that pricing..lol


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On Fri, 3 Aug 2007 07:51:15 -0600, "Thom" wrote:

I use a slight variation of the calculation -- for me it is easier to do in
my head while shopping for the lumber I want or need.
A x B x C
----------
12

Where A = thickness in inches B = width in inches C = length in feet

So for example I have a 4/4 piece of oak that is 6" wide and 8 feet long.
1 x 6 x 8
--------- = 4BF
12

Thom

Yeah, that's the way I learned it, from some book in the distant past...

Wouldn't it work out the same if you used an inch per foot on the length and
didn't have to divide the sum by 12?
(Yeah, I flunked math in HS)


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
news

"Jim" wrote in message
. net...

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..
So I took a gander at a high-end wood retailer today at lunch and came
across some stuff that I can't figure out. Some boards were sold as
$x.yy per board foot and others were sold as $x.yy per square foot. Why
the differences? It appeared as though the 1/2 boards were all sold
square foot and the 4/4, 8/4, and 16/4 boards were sold board foot.
What exactly is a board foot? I'm presuming that's what BF meant on the
price - and none of the wood was dimensioned.

A board foot of 4/4 wood is 12 x 12 inches. A board foot of 8/4 wood is
6x6 inches, etc.
Boards thinner than 4/4 are usually sold by the square foot if for no
other reason that people
don't realize how much it costs. To make a 1/2 inch thick board, people
usually start with
4/4 and plane it down. The customer pays for the scrap.

Boards sold by the board foot need not be otherwise dimensioned.

And, hardwood is sold in random widths and random lengths. You pay
plenty for the scap if you want
specific widths and / or lengths.
Jim

I'm sorry but I'm gonna pick at your response because I can't follow it.
you said 4/4 is 12x12 and 8/4 is 6x6 and then finished it with etc... I
don't understand. I see 4/4 as 1" thick so 12x12 would be a board foot -
makes sense. I see 8/4 as being 2" thick, so I see that as 2x6x6 which
isn't the same as 12x12x1" I really don't want to turn this isn't a math
problem - I just wanted to understand how it worked. If I follow your
example, 16/4 would be 3x3 per board foot.

Is it more like (12x1)x(12x1) and (6x2)x(6x2) and (3x4)x(3x4)? I'm just
asking because I want to sound somewhat intelligent when I go to pick up
my puny 4/4 white oak boards. At $4.25 a board foot it might add up, but
not really a 4/4 6" wide 8 foot board would be 4 board feet or 17 bucks!
Pretty cheap when you compare it to the 50 or 60 bucks the Borgs offer it
for.

When I said 4/4 wood, I meant that the board was 1 inch thick when it was
rough cut. Thus, 8/4 wood was 2 inches thick when it was rough cut, and so
forth.
Lumbermen for some strange reason use improper fractions to designate board
thickness.

But, to respond to your comment about the board, yes it would be 4 board
feet. And, yes, it is much cheaper than what you see at the borg.
However, most hardwood lumber is only surfaced on top and bottom (S2S in
short). What you see at the borg is surfaced top, bottom, and the two sides
(S4S).
Using S4S wood saves time for those of us who don't own both a jointer and a
planer.
The customer pays for the extra surfacing regardless of where he buys the
wood.

I don't believe though that the borg sells FAS grade wood.

Jim

Jim wrote:
"Eigenvector" wrote in message
news
"Jim" wrote in message
. net...
"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..
So I took a gander at a high-end wood retailer today at lunch and came
across some stuff that I can't figure out. Some boards were sold as
$x.yy per board foot and others were sold as $x.yy per square foot. Why
the differences? It appeared as though the 1/2 boards were all sold
square foot and the 4/4, 8/4, and 16/4 boards were sold board foot.
What exactly is a board foot? I'm presuming that's what BF meant on the
price - and none of the wood was dimensioned.

A board foot of 4/4 wood is 12 x 12 inches. A board foot of 8/4 wood is
6x6 inches, etc.
Boards thinner than 4/4 are usually sold by the square foot if for no
other reason that people
don't realize how much it costs. To make a 1/2 inch thick board, people
usually start with
4/4 and plane it down. The customer pays for the scrap.

Boards sold by the board foot need not be otherwise dimensioned.

And, hardwood is sold in random widths and random lengths. You pay
plenty for the scap if you want
specific widths and / or lengths.
Jim
I'm sorry but I'm gonna pick at your response because I can't follow it.
you said 4/4 is 12x12 and 8/4 is 6x6 and then finished it with etc... I
don't understand. I see 4/4 as 1" thick so 12x12 would be a board foot -
makes sense. I see 8/4 as being 2" thick, so I see that as 2x6x6 which
isn't the same as 12x12x1" I really don't want to turn this isn't a math
problem - I just wanted to understand how it worked. If I follow your
example, 16/4 would be 3x3 per board foot.

Is it more like (12x1)x(12x1) and (6x2)x(6x2) and (3x4)x(3x4)? I'm just
asking because I want to sound somewhat intelligent when I go to pick up
my puny 4/4 white oak boards. At $4.25 a board foot it might add up, but
not really a 4/4 6" wide 8 foot board would be 4 board feet or 17 bucks!
Pretty cheap when you compare it to the 50 or 60 bucks the Borgs offer it
for.

When I said 4/4 wood, I meant that the board was 1 inch thick when it was
rough cut. Thus, 8/4 wood was 2 inches thick when it was rough cut, and so
forth.
Lumbermen for some strange reason use improper fractions to designate board
thickness.

But, to respond to your comment about the board, yes it would be 4 board
feet. And, yes, it is much cheaper than what you see at the borg.
However, most hardwood lumber is only surfaced on top and bottom (S2S in
short). What you see at the borg is surfaced top, bottom, and the two sides
(S4S).
Using S4S wood saves time for those of us who don't own both a jointer and a
planer.
The customer pays for the extra surfacing regardless of where he buys the
wood.

I don't believe though that the borg sells FAS grade wood.

Jim


yeah but.... A board foot of 8/4 lumber would be 6" x 12" (not 6" x 6")

I don't believe though that the borg sells FAS grade wood.

I do. Remember, I HATE borgs, so it pains me to give the credit, but
it's due.

My local borgs actually have very clear red oak and poplar, just at
insanely ridiculous prices. Aside from price, another down side is that
much of the red oak is often the flattest sawn I've ever seen, complete
with crazy arch figure, with very few vertical grain boards. This may
be due to a buildup of uglier boards due to customer selection. Some of
it might make cool book matched panels, if only it were wider.

I haven't seen the red oak or poplar grading rules lately, but I've
hardly ever seen a defect in a borg hardwood board.

"Charlie M. 1958" wrote in message
...
Jim wrote:


yeah but.... A board foot of 8/4 lumber would be 6" x 12" (not 6" x 6")
I wrote that post while half asleep. Mathematics in my head is not my
strong suit anymore.
Jim

"B A R R Y" wrote in message
...

I don't believe though that the borg sells FAS grade wood.

I do. Remember, I HATE borgs, so it pains me to give the credit, but it's
due.

My local borgs actually have very clear red oak and poplar, just at
insanely ridiculous prices. Aside from price, another down side is that
much of the red oak is often the flattest sawn I've ever seen, complete
with crazy arch figure, with very few vertical grain boards. This may be
due to a buildup of uglier boards due to customer selection. Some of it
might make cool book matched panels, if only it were wider.

I haven't seen the red oak or poplar grading rules lately, but I've hardly
ever seen a defect in a borg hardwood board.
The top grade is FAS (short for Firsts And Seconds)
If I understand the Hogan Hardwood website, FAS defines boards which a
Clear on one side
Very small defects on the other side
At least 8 feet long.

Boards which meet the first two requirements, but not the third, are Select
grade.
Most of the boards at the borgs near me are Select or below. This is not to
say that
only FAS or Select should be used. I built lots of things out of No. 1
Common Ash.
You just need to do a lot of cutting or be lucky to find a long board that
is all usable.
Jim

B A R R Y wrote in
:


I don't believe though that the borg sells FAS grade wood.

I do. Remember, I HATE borgs, so it pains me to give the credit, but
it's due.

My local borgs actually have very clear red oak and poplar, just at
insanely ridiculous prices. Aside from price, another down side is
that much of the red oak is often the flattest sawn I've ever seen,
complete with crazy arch figure, with very few vertical grain boards.
This may be due to a buildup of uglier boards due to customer
selection. Some of it might make cool book matched panels, if only it
were wider.

I haven't seen the red oak or poplar grading rules lately, but I've
hardly ever seen a defect in a borg hardwood board.


Wandering further afield here....

My neighbor, a woodworker of some experience, has more than filled his
family's homes. There's WAY too much stuff there.

When he builds these days, it's almost always something for a friend.
And he almost always uses BORG red oak ply and lumber. There's not that
much stock, and he can get it without major hassle and without much
basic milling prep. And it comes out looking like a pretty good job in
home center red oak. That's what he was trying for. He's a builder,
not an artist. He's doing this for friends, not for money.

I, on the other hand, have this artist streak in me, and everything has
the potential to be something great!

The potential, anyway.

Patriarch,
who goes to the Borg only when absolutely necessary...

Jim wrote:
"Charlie M. 1958" wrote in message
...
Jim wrote:

yeah but.... A board foot of 8/4 lumber would be 6" x 12" (not 6" x 6")
I wrote that post while half asleep. Mathematics in my head is not my
strong suit anymore.
Jim


I knew that you knew better, but I didn't want the guy who was shaky on
board footage to be scratching his head too long. :-)

"B A R R Y" wrote in message

I haven't seen the red oak or poplar grading rules lately, but I've
hardly ever seen a defect in a borg hardwood board.

Certainly useful on a weekend, after noon Saturday, when you need material
in a pinch. Poplar and red oak are generally good here at both BORG's, as
long as you check the MC, and can stand their linear foot pricing.

I often make a pass by the red oad bin at HD just to pick out the odd QS
board you can generally find in any stack.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 6/1/07
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Jim wrote:

The top grade is FAS (short for Firsts And Seconds)
If I understand the Hogan Hardwood website, FAS defines boards which a
Clear on one side
Very small defects on the other side
At least 8 feet long.

I agree.

The boards I see locally meet those standards, except for those that
have been cut by customers. Those really should be marked down, but
they came into the store long enough to meet grade. The bins in my
local stores are filled with mostly 8-10'long boards, with a smattering
of 6'. There are also the usual 1-2' boards cut off by idiots.

The only FAS standard that isn't met by my local BORGs at stocking time
is width. For instance, I know that red oak is supposed to be 6" wide
in the rough to be FAS, but dressed s4s 2", 3", and 4" wide s4s boards
obviously can't be wide enough to truly meet grade.

For dressed boards, FAS width standards can really only apply to defects
and length once the wood is milled. I don't know of any hardwood
provider that drops the grade after milling a board, if the desired
width is less than grade. Don't forget that length and width grade
standards can change with species.

Also remember that dressing adds cost. Just yesterday, I ordered 300 lf
of s4s 1x4 (3/4 x 3-1/2) stock for a trim project @ $1.80/lf from my
favorite wood dealer. That's $5.40 a board foot, which is $2 more than
I pay for it rough or ($3.20 bd/ft). I have a good (quality and sized)
jointer and planer, but I don't want to spend a day dressing it. The
same 1x4 is $2.30/lf at the local BORG.

I'm sure the quality of BORG hardwood stock most definitely changes from
locale to locale, but mine definitely sells what ws FAS when they milled it.

I'm still feeling strange that I'm standing up for the BORGs... G

"mac davis" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 3 Aug 2007 07:51:15 -0600, "Thom" wrote:

I use a slight variation of the calculation -- for me it is easier to do
in
my head while shopping for the lumber I want or need.
A x B x C
----------
12

Where A = thickness in inches B = width in inches C = length in
feet

So for example I have a 4/4 piece of oak that is 6" wide and 8 feet long.
1 x 6 x 8
--------- = 4BF
12

Thom

Yeah, that's the way I learned it, from some book in the distant past...

Wouldn't it work out the same if you used an inch per foot on the length
and
didn't have to divide the sum by 12?
(Yeah, I flunked math in HS)


mac

Yeah, there are all sorts of ways to figure it given there are feet and
inches involved. I personally found a tape measure that had
the BF scale on the back of it similar to what the lumber yard uses to
measure BF and use that although for a board or two, I usually just
do it in my head.
Cheers,
cc