Materials
Board feet to metric volume
- where
- board feet
- thickness (in)
- width (in)
- length (ft)
- count
- volume (m³)
Explain this equation
Converts a timber tally in imperial board feet into cubic metres. Use it when buying or pricing from suppliers or price lists that work in board feet.
t is the thickness and w the width in inches. l is the length in feet. n is the number of pieces. BF is the tally in board feet, and V the equivalent volume in m³.
A board foot is a piece 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide and 1 foot long. Multiplying inches by inches by feet and dividing by 12 counts how many of those units you have. One board foot is 144 cubic inches, which is exactly 0.002359737216 m³.
A 1 × 12 inch board 10 feet long is 10 board feet, about 0.0236 m³. Around 424 board feet make one cubic metre.
Watch out: board feet measure volume, not length. Check whether the supplier tallies on nominal or actual sizes.
Convert a timber tally from inches and feet to board feet and cubic metres.
Enter your values to see the result.
Good to know
Board feet is a volume tally, not a linear length. Use the supplier’s nominal/actual tally convention.
Sources
- Geometry / arithmetic
This is a calculation aid, not a structural design or compliance certificate. Every default is an example, not a specification for your project.