🌲 Board Foot to Linear Foot Calculator
Convert board feet to linear feet, then add waste, trim, and stock length for cleaner lumber ordering.
📍Preset lumber jobs
🔧Conversion inputs
📊Results
🌳Species and stock grid
📈Board-foot conversion reference
| Stock | BF / LF | LF / BF | Note |
|---|
📈Nominal to actual guide
| Nominal | Actual | Use | Note |
|---|
📈Waste and trim guide
| Project | Waste | Trim | Note |
|---|
📈Stock length guide
| Stock | Linear feet | Best fit | Note |
|---|
💡Tips and safety
Knowing the difference between a board foot and a linear foot matters when work with lumber. A linear foot, sometimes called a lineal foot, measures length, so only one side of a straight line. Instead, a board foot measures volume.
To estimate board feet from wood, use this rule: thickness in inches times width in inches times length in feet, then divide by means of 12. For example, 2x4x8 cover 8 linear feet, but only 5.33 board feet. A board foot you can think of as one square foot thick in one inch.
Board Foot and Linear Foot Explained
So, wood of 12 inches wide, 12 inches long and 1 inch thick equals one such. Remember that for 4/4 stock: two linear feet from 6-inch width, 1-inch stock makes a board foot. One inch thickness, 6 inches width, 12 inches length gives 72 inches total, and 72 ÷ 144 equals 0.5 board foot.
Counting board feet, take the normal thickness (that before you change dimensions). For example, smooth hardwood board in 3/4 inch has normally 1 inch. Thickness always shows by means of quarters of an inch, like this 4/4 lumber is 1 inch.
If sizes are in inches, divide them by means of 12 for feet, because one foot has 12 inches. Board of 8 inches wide equals 8 board feet and 12 linear. For 24-inch width it stays 24 board feet.
Prices commonly base on those units. Hardwood lumber usually sells in board foot. When you buy rough lumber in board foot and smooth in linear, yes.
If price is “in the foot”, it can match or get smaller than for linear feet. 1×10 for linear or board foot commonly costs more than 1×3 because of the size of the log. Linear feet count are easy, because it needs only counting, no hard math.
