Board Foot CalculatorAbout Board Foot Calculator
This site is a free, independent set of tools for woodworkers, builders, sawyers and woodland owners. It helps you measure lumber in board feet, price an order and estimate the lumber in a log.
Who writes this site
The site is written and kept up to date by a small team of editors who build web tools for trades and hobbies. We are not a lumber seller and we do not get paid by any yard, mill or brand. We do not give advice on timber sales; for that, talk to a state service forester or a consulting forester.
How we check the math
Every formula is written once in a shared code file and tested against worked examples from the sources below. Those tests include the Purdue Doyle table, the Purdue International 1/4 inch length formulas, and the Wisconsin and AHEC board examples. Each page shows its formula so you can check it by hand.
Sources
- Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material (FPL-GTR-282), Chapter 6, Commercial Lumber. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, 2021.
- Cassens, D. Log and Tree Scaling Techniques (FNR-191). Purdue University Extension.
- Measuring Standing Trees (F-35-02). Ohio State University Extension.
- Forest Stewardship: Terminology. Penn State Extension.
- What Is a Board Foot? Forestry Facts No. 42. University of Wisconsin Extension.
- How to Measure Trees and Logs (G5050). University of Missouri Extension.
- Grading Sawn Lumber: Measurement. American Hardwood Export Council.
- Briggs, D. Forest Products Measurements and Conversion Factors, Chapter 4, Lumber. University of Washington, Rural Technology Initiative.
- NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B.9, Conversion Factors. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Corrections
If you find an error, please tell us. We fix confirmed errors quickly and note the date below.