 Welcome to Calculating Board Feet. Hardwood lumber is sold by the board foot. One board foot equals 144 cubic inches, or the equivalent of one piece of wood 1 inch thick by 12 inches wide by 12 inches long. Most hardwood comes in 4 quarter, 5 quarter, 6 quarter, and 8 quarter thicknesses. Board footage can be calculated by either one of the following formulas. Thickness times width times length divided by 144, or thickness times width times length divided by 12. Using the formula thickness times width times length divided by 12, the above 4 by 4 board would be 1 times 8 times 8 divided by 12, or 5.3 board feet. Likewise, if that same board was 1 and 1 quarter inches thick, or 5 quarter lumber, the equation would be 1.25 times 8 times 8 divided by 12, which equals 6.7 board feet. Now, what have you learned? Now, we'll test what you have learned with a few questions. Calculate the board feet for the following piece. The correct answer is 5 board feet. Very good. Let's try another. Calculate the board feet for this piece. The correct answer is 4.5 board feet. Board footage is usually rounded off to the nearest whole number. In the preceding example, the board contained 4.5 board feet. Most lumber dealers would count that board as having 5 board feet. Now, try this sample. Remember that the formula for measuring lengths in inches is thickness times width times length divided by 144 and that the board feet total should be rounded to the nearest whole number. So calculate the board feet for this piece. The answer rounded to the nearest whole number is 4 board feet. Now, let's review. True or false? Hardwood lumber is sold by the board foot. The answer is true. True or false? Lumber dealers typically round off board feet to the nearest 1 tenth of a foot. The answer is false. True or false? One board foot is equal to a piece of wood 1 inch thick by 12 inches wide by 12 inches long. The answer is true. Here are a few strategies for calculating board feet. Measuring individual boards can be a time consuming process. One method which can be used to speed the process is to lay boards side by side and measure the overall width. So in this example, the calculation would be 1 times 36 times 8 divided by 12 which equals 24 board feet. Another method for calculating board feet quickly and accurately is to use a special tool called the board rule. So in review, calculating board feet footage is simple with either of these two formulas. Now that you know the process, try practicing on some actual samples. This completes this learning object calculating board feet.