# What is the difference between board foot, and linear foot?



## Hooligan__j

I am a noob, as far as purchasing wood, other than plywood, and framing type lumber. 
I am asking because at Ye Olde Home Despot, some woods are priced by linear foot, and at other places they are priced by board foot. Are these the same? 
Thanks in advance for your help.


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## knotscott

A linear foot is 12" of length regardless of width. A board foot is any dimensional equivalent of 1" x 12" x 12", such as 1" x 6" x 24", or 2" x 6" x 12".


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## northwoodsman

I want to add that even if it is less than 1" thick, it is most often still regarded as 1" thick.


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## asthesawturns

in other words, to calculate a boardfoot,( BF) Multiply thickness by width by legnth, then divide by 144.
easy a 1" X 6"X 24" =144 divided by 144 = 1 boardfoot
or 2" X 4" X 44" = 352, this is cubic inches, divide by a square foot ( 144") and you get 2.44 Boardfeet.
Hope that helps.
Realtor jim is correct, it should be square feet, and sqare inches, I think, now I'm so confused, the mutiliplication measures cubic feet, then is divided by a square foot. Anyway the calculations above are correct except for some of the terminology.


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## CharlieM1958

One easy way to think of it is that a board foot is basically the same as a cubic foot. (Not exactly, of course, because a 1×12, for example, is not really 1" thick. But in terms of doing the math it is the same.)


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## RealtorJim

Ummm… Charlie…. unless I am mistaken a cubic foot is actually 12 board feet. 12"X12"X12".

I think you are using the measurement method that I usually use when I CUT my lumber, then realize I errored AFTER the cut has been made.


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## Dennisgrosen

EXcuse for asking if it isn´t the right place for it then plaese send me a pm insted

I see so many bieutyful plans on the net and nearly all of them and the cutting list is 
only made with inch and boardfeet mesagers and not with cm and meter and sq.meter
my question is how do I calculate from one to the other ?

Dennis


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## RealtorJim

1" = 2.54 cm
1' = 30.48 cm
39.37" = 1 meter
1 square meter = 10.7639 sq. ft

cm x 0.39 = in
in x 2.54 = cm

I "think" this is correct. But you can download free metric conversion programs off the internet or use an online conversion site. Just do a search for "metric conversion calculator". One such site (that I just searched, so I do not really know anything about it, other than it does offer online conversions) is;

http://www.metric-conversions.org

Hope this helps.


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## CharlieM1958

Ouch! Mea culpa.

My head was thinking "144 cubic inches" while my fingers were typing "cubic foot".


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## RealtorJim

It happens Charlie. That's why we have "designer firewood".


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## Dennisgrosen

´*Realtor Jim*
thank´s the first two I know 
but the next two I wasn´t qiet sure of
and thank´s for the link


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## fge

I am a bit of a newbie myself at a lot of this. I once did a 8/4 butcher block for a customer and ended up doing it for free because of my miscalculation on what an actual bf was. Now I know though, not to make that mistake again.


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## chuck66

I have plans that call for a board of 1.5 furlongs by 2 cubits. How many board feet would that be/?


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## Jim Jakosh

Hi Hooligan. A board foot is a 1 foot long by 1 foot wide by 1" thick. Narrow boards are factored by the fraction of the foot that they are. So if you have a 3/4" board that is 8" wide, it is 2/3 of a foot wide by the length and 3/4" is considered 1" thick for usual calculations. If the wood is thinner than 3/4" and expensive, I ask for the thickness to be factored as part of and inch thick in the formula.


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## rtb

Kind of had to get anything out of all these formulas ?? I always think of a board ft as a measurement of the volume of wood vs; a lineal foot as being just a measurement of length . So. a board foot could be 1×12 x 12 or 1×6 by 24 the volume of wood remains the same. while a measurement of 25ft is simply a distance.


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## smitdog

> I have plans that call for a board of 1.5 furlongs by 2 cubits. How many board feet would that be/?
> 
> - Chuck


"What's a cubit?" - Noah

Haha, saw that and Bill Cosby's Noah routine immediately popped into my head!


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## BurlyBob

Chuck, I'm thinkin dat be a whole bunch of wood.


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