Material planning

Convert rectangular stock to board feet

Convert measured millimetre dimensions and quantity into board feet, litres and cubic metres.

Board feet describe volume, not the number of boards. This worksheet helps compare a rectangular stock entry with a supplier quote in that unit. Enter the dimensions used for billing. A dressed board may be thinner or narrower than the dimensions on which rough lumber is sold, so measuring a finished board does not necessarily reproduce an invoice.

How to use the result

1. Confirm whether the supplier uses rough, nominal or actual dimensions for the quoted quantity. Keep that basis alongside your result.
2. Convert each dimension to millimetres before entering it. One international inch is exactly 25.4 mm.
3. Multiply only identical boards with the quantity field. Calculate different stock sizes separately and sum their volumes outside this row.

Worked example

A board billed as 1 inch thick, 6 inches wide and 8 feet long has 576 cubic inches of volume, which is 4 board feet. The millimetre inputs are 25.4 by 152.4 by 2,438.4. Two such boards total 8 board feet; their ability to fit a parts list is a separate question.

Before making

• Do not treat a matching volume as proof that a long or grain-locked part fits.
• Defects, surfacing losses and saw kerfs reduce useful yield; this tool does not apply an invented waste percentage.
• Keep your quote currency and price basis separate from the volume result.

Continue your plan

• strip yield
• first project