Board Foot Calculator
Calculate lumber volume in board feet from thickness, width and length, plus cubic feet, estimated weight by wood species, and total cost from a price per board foot.
Input
Used to estimate total weight from typical kiln-dried density.
Output
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| No data yet | |
Guides
The Board Foot Calculator converts a board's dimensions into board feet — the standard US unit lumber yards, sawmills, and hardwood suppliers price by — plus cubic feet, an estimated weight by wood species, and a total cost.
What is a board foot?
A board foot is a volume unit: 1 inch thick × 12 inches wide × 12 inches long (144 cubic inches). For a board of any thickness, width (both in inches) and length (in feet):
board feet = (thickness × width × length) / 12
A 1" × 6" board that's 8 feet long is (1 × 6 × 8) / 12 = 4 board feet.
How to use it
- Enter the board's thickness and width in inches, and its length in feet.
- Set the number of boards if you're buying more than one of the same size.
- Optionally, pick a wood species (or enter a custom density) to estimate total weight, and enter a price per board foot to get a total cost.
The calculator returns board feet per board, total board feet, the equivalent cubic feet, an estimated weight, and — if you entered a price — the total cost.
Why isn't length measured in inches like thickness and width?
It's the lumber industry's own convention: sawn lumber is almost always sold/measured by length in feet (an "8-footer", a "10-foot 2×4") while cross-section is given in inches (nominal or actual). The /12 in the formula converts that foot-length into the same inch-based unit as thickness and width.
How accurate is the weight estimate?
It's based on commonly-cited average kiln-dried densities per species — good for a ballpark shipping/handling weight, not a precision figure. Actual density varies with moisture content and the individual tree, so use the custom-density option if you have a supplier-specified figure.
Estimating for a larger project? The Concrete Volume & Bags Calculator covers the concrete side of a build the same way — volume in, bags/cost out.
Use it from code
From 3 credits per callREST API
curl -X POST https://api.iotools.cloud/v1/tool/board-foot-calculator \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"thickness": "1",
"width": "6",
"length": "8",
"quantity": "1",
"species": "pine-swp",
"customDensity": "",
"pricePerBoardFoot": ""
}'Swap in your own key from your account. The tool's fields are the body — no wrapper.
Ask an AI agent
Use the IOTools `board-foot-calculator` tool (Board Foot Calculator) on this input:
YOUR_INPUT_HEREPaste this at any agent connected to the IOTools MCP server, then add your input.