Board Foot Calculator
Figure board feet and lumber cost for one board or a whole pile. Type thickness, width and length in inches — fractions like 1 3/4 work — add each board to the list, and get the total before you're at the register.
Board feet and cost for a list of boards. A board foot is a fixed 144 in³ (1×12×12 in), so it works in inches even in mm mode.
Know the board feet. Now plan every cut.
CUTLIST.io bundles all five shop calculators with the cut list optimizer — Rip First, Crosscut First, Max Yield, or Smart Stack — so you buy the right amount of material and waste less of it.
Get the whole suite of toolsWhat is a board foot?
A board foot is a volume: a piece of wood 12" long, 12" wide and 1" thick. Hardwood is priced by it because rough boards come in random widths and lengths, so "per foot" would mean nothing.
If you measure length in feet instead, divide by 12 rather than 144. A 1" × 6" × 8' board is 1 × 6 × 96 ÷ 144 = 4 bd ft.
Lumber yards charge on nominal (rough) thickness even when the board has been surfaced. A board sold as 4/4 that's been planed to 13/16" is still billed as 1" thick, and anything under 1" is usually rounded up to 1" for pricing.
Common sizes, quick reference
| Board | Length | Board feet |
|---|---|---|
| 4/4 × 6" | 8' | 4.00 |
| 4/4 × 8" | 8' | 5.33 |
| 5/4 × 6" | 8' | 5.00 |
| 6/4 × 6" | 8' | 6.00 |
| 8/4 × 6" | 8' | 8.00 |
| 8/4 × 10" | 10' | 16.67 |
More free shop calculators
Tape Measure Calculator
Add, subtract, multiply and divide tape measurements, fractions included.
Circle Glue-Up Calculator
Board lengths for a glue-up you'll cut into a circle.
Woodworking Unit Converter
Inches, mm, cm, feet — with fractions in and out.
Quick Fill Calculator
How many of one part fit on a sheet, kerf included.
Questions
Do I use actual or nominal thickness?
For pricing rough lumber, nominal (4/4, 5/4, 8/4). For figuring what you'll actually get out of a board, actual. This calculator does the math on whatever you type, so enter whichever one answers your question.
Does it handle fractions?
Yes. Type 3/4, 1 1/2, 0.75 or 1.5 — all the same to it, the same way the main CUTLIST.io app reads dimensions.
Is a linear foot the same as a board foot?
No. A linear foot is just length. Dimensional lumber (2×4s, trim) is sold by the linear foot; hardwood is sold by the board foot because width and thickness vary.
How do I figure how many boards I need for a project?
Work backwards from your parts list: that's exactly what the CUTLIST.io optimizer does. Enter the boards you can buy and the parts you need, and it lays out the cuts and tells you how much stock it takes.