A little shop math. A clearer buying plan.
Board foot calculator.
Tally a single board or a whole stack. Get the volume, add a buying allowance, and estimate your lumber cost.
Your measurements stay in your browser. No account needed.
How privacy worksKnow what you're measuring
Volume, not surface area.
One board foot is 144 cubic inches: a board 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide and 1 foot long. Thickness matters.
For length in inches, divide by 144 instead. Multiply by quantity, then add all the boards. Calculations keep full precision; the display rounds to two decimal places.
Formula reference: Wood-MizerA stack of five boards
Each board is 1 inch thick, 6 inches wide and 8 feet long.
1 × 6 × 8 ÷ 12 = 4 BF
- Five identical boards
- 20 BF
- With a chosen 10% allowance
- 22 BF
- At an example $7.50 per BF
- $165.00
Sample price and allowance for illustration. Use your own quote and project assumptions.
From the measuring bench
A better handle on lumber math.
Board feet vs linear feet vs square feet
Compare lumber length, face area and volume with one worked example, clear formulas, and a guide to the dimensions each calculation needs.
Read the guide GUIDE 02 / MEASUREMENTRough vs surfaced lumber: which dimensions should you use?
Understand rough, surfaced and nominal lumber dimensions, with a worked volume example and a checklist for checking a supplier’s tally basis.
Read the guideBefore you buy
Should I enter rough or surfaced dimensions?
For exact physical volume, use the dimensions you measure. For a purchase estimate, confirm the measurement basis your supplier uses. Rough thickness, quarter notation and surfaced dimensions are not interchangeable. Read the measurement guide.
Does the calculator round like a lumberyard?
No. It calculates geometric volume from your inputs, without applying a dealer's width, thickness or length rounding. Confirm the supplier's tally convention before comparing the result with an invoice.
How much extra should I allow?
That depends on board quality, milling, defects, grain selection and the sizes your parts need. The allowance starts at zero so you make that decision. Enough total board feet does not guarantee that your parts fit the available boards.
Can I price different species in one tally?
The entered price applies to the entire tally. For species or stock categories with different prices, make and export a separate tally for each one.