Please note: measurements below are in inches and feet.
Here is the formula to figure out board feet
Thickness x Width x Length ÷ 144 = __ board feet
or
T x W x L ÷ 144 = __ board feet
To calculate board feet for many pieces:
T x W x L ÷ 144 = __ board feet x Number of Pieces = __ Total board feet
More details to consider:
- A Board Foot is equal to 1 inch Thick x 12 inches Wide x 12 inches Long.
- The shorthand for board feet is “BdFt”.
- “5/4 stock” is thicker than 1 inch stock. So if you are calculating board footage for “5/4 stock” use 1.25 for the Thickness.
- For “6/4 stock” use 1.5 for Thickness.
- For “8/4 stock” use 2 for Thickness.
- For “10/4 stock” use 2.5 for Thickness.
Example: To calculate the board footage of a 5/4 x 12 x 120 piece of material,
1.25 x 12 x 120 ÷ 144 = 12.5 board feet
Is metric looking a little better now?