Lumbertool Calculate board feet

Lumber measurement, buying and properties

Measure boards, compare a quote and account for wood properties.

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  • Board feet calculator

    Sum board groups from actual or nominal dimensions, or estimate rough stock from finished dimensions and explicit milling allowances.

    Inputs: Thickness (in), Width (in), Length (ft), Number of boards (board), Finished thickness (in), Finished width (in), Finished length (in), Total thickness allowance (in), Total width allowance (in), Total length allowance (in).

    Results: Board feet per board in first group (BF), Total quantity (BF).

    Measure lumber quantity and volume
    Formula and example included

  • Hardwood surface measure and tally

    Calculate retail hardwood surface measure, a board-foot tally, or a bundle estimate from net layer dimensions.

    Inputs: Full board width (in), Board length (ft), Net lumber width in one layer (in), Average board length (ft), Stated lumber thickness (in), Number of layers (layers).

    Results: Surface measure (sq ft), Hardwood board feet (BF), Surface measure per layer (sq ft), Bundle board-foot estimate (BF).

    Measure lumber quantity and volume
    Formula and example included

  • Geometric board feet to cubic feet

    Convert a board-foot quantity to physical cubic volume only when the quantity represents geometric board-foot volume.

    Inputs: Geometric board feet (BF), Physical volume (ft³).

    Results: Physical cubic meters (m³), Physical volume (ft³), Geometric board feet (BF).

    Measure lumber quantity and volume
    Formula and example included

  • Board feet and linear feet converter

    Convert geometric or same-basis board measure to linear feet, or linear feet back to board measure, for a fixed cross-section.

    Inputs: Board feet (BF), Linear feet (LF), Thickness (in), Width (in).

    Results: Linear feet (LF), Board feet on the same basis (BF).

    Measure lumber quantity and volume
    Formula and example included

  • Boards to buy

    Turn a board-foot requirement into a whole-board purchase count for one stock size.

    Inputs: Required quantity (BF), Stock thickness (in), Stock width (in), Stock length (ft).

    Results: Whole boards to buy (boards), Purchase quantity (BF).

    Plan purchase and cutting quantity
    Formula and example included

  • Lumber waste allowance

    Add a user-selected purchase overage and see the extra and gross lumber quantities.

    Inputs: Net requirement (BF), User-selected overage (%).

    Results: Extra material (BF), Gross requirement (BF).

    Plan purchase and cutting quantity
    Formula and example included

  • Gross lumber from target yield

    Work back from usable lumber and a stated yield to the gross input required.

    Inputs: Net usable requirement (BF), User-selected yield (%).

    Results: Gross input required (BF), Input above net (BF).

    Plan purchase and cutting quantity
    Formula and example included

  • Repeated lumber cuts

    Fit repeated equal-length parts into stock, allowing for separation kerf and end trim.

    Inputs: Stock length (in), Part length (in), Parts needed (parts), Kerf between adjacent parts (in), Total end trim (in).

    Results: Parts per full board (parts), Boards to buy (boards), Full-board residual (in), Last-board residual (in).

    Plan purchase and cutting quantity
    Formula and example included

  • Board-foot material cost

    Estimate material-only cost from a user-entered board-foot price.

    Inputs: Board feet (BF), Price per board foot ($/BF).

    Results: Material cost ($).

    Estimate material cost
    Formula and example included

  • Lumber quote price normalizer

    Convert user-entered piece, linear-foot, cubic-foot or MBF quotes to a comparable price per board foot.

    Inputs: Quoted price ($), Thickness (in), Width (in), Length (ft).

    Results: Normalized price ($/BF).

    Estimate material cost
    Formula and example included

  • Lumber weight estimate

    Estimate lumber weight from actual dimensions or geometric volume and a stated density.

    Inputs: Physical volume (ft³), Density at stated moisture basis (lb/ft³), Actual thickness (in), Actual width (in), Actual length (ft), Number of boards (boards), Geometric board feet (BF).

    Results: Estimated weight (lb).

    Estimate mass and moisture
    Formula and example included

  • Wood moisture content

    Calculate dry-basis wood moisture content from current and oven-dry specimen masses.

    Inputs: Current specimen mass (lb), Oven-dry specimen mass (lb).

    Results: Dry-basis moisture content (%).

    Estimate mass and moisture
    Formula and example included

  • Equilibrium moisture content

    Estimate equilibrium moisture content from air temperature and relative humidity.

    Inputs: Air temperature (°F), Relative humidity (%).

    Results: Estimated EMC (%).

    Estimate mass and moisture
    Formula and example included

  • Wood shrinkage estimate

    Estimate a green board’s final dimension using an explicit shrinkage coefficient and target moisture content.

    Inputs: Green dimension (in), Green-to-oven-dry shrinkage (%), Target moisture content (%), Fiber-saturation assumption (%).

    Results: Estimated shrinkage (%), Estimated final dimension (in).

    Account for dimensional change
    Formula and example included