What Is A Board Foot?

Board Foot Measurement - A board foot (BF or bdft) is the basic unit of measurement for hardwood lumber. A board foot (or bdft) is 1 foot long x 1 foot wide x 1 inch thick. Its one square foot of boards, one inch thick, or one half square foot of boards, two inches thick. The formula for determining board feet is: height in inches multiplied by the width in inches multiplied by the length in feet divided by 12. (Height * Width* Length) /12. It's easy to remember. You see most of the formula when you look at the sign in the lumber yard. It says 2" x 4" x 8' Just multiply all the numbers together and remember to divide by twelve and you have board feet for any board. Board footage is a nominal, volume measurement and meant for rough lumber. If a board is less than 1 inch thick, then it is still calculated with a thickness of 1 inch.

For example:

A standard 2x4-8 foot long is: 2 inch thick x 4 inch wide x 8 ft long /12 = 5.3 bdft

A board 12 inches wide 8 feet long and 1 inch thick is: 12 inch x 8 ft x 1 inch /12 = 8 bdft

A board 6 inches wide, 10 feet long and 1 inch thick is: 6 inch x 10 ft x 1 inch / 12 = 5 bdft

Credit for this article goes to Robert Milton, owner of Hobby Hardwoods Alabama.

https://www.hobbyhardwoodalabama.com

Nathan,

Selling Wood

For the past few years as the You-Tube channel has grown in popularity I have received a lot of interest form viewers about buying the wood they see in the videos. I have been reluctant in the past in pursuing this more but with the addition of the new kiln last summer my inventory is growing faster than I can find a place to store it. In years past I had a great relationship with a woodworking store over in North Carolina. They would take all my wood/slabs that I kiln dried and handle the sell for me for a portion of the revenue. This was a great partnership that lasted many years and kept me doing what I love most, sawing wood and not having to spend time with the business side as much. That store however closed during the pandemic and never reopened. Since then I have been pretty much stock piling most of what you see on the videos. I have decided that I am now going to take the time needed and start up an online wood store. The only drawback for this will be the shipping cost to the customer, it seems that service in this country has really increased over the last year. I am not sure yet on when I will launch the store but it will be before spring time.

I plan on selling smaller live edge slabs, such as the ones that are shorter (4ft in length) and suited for smaller projects. I will also offer small batches of boards and off cuts. Make no mistake if you are a woodworker and needing enough stock to build a set of cabinets or a kitchen table then this store will not serve your needs. After I get my feet wet I may venture into the idea of selling larger/longer slabs but right now I want to keep it simple as we get started. As far as pricing I will have to work that out but don't worry I am cheaper than most, I just wish that the shipping companies stared that characteristic.

Nathan,

It Doesn't Matter What I Charge

One of the most common questions I get through my You Tube channel is about pricing of wood. I would wager that I get around 3 to 5 emails/DMs/text messages every week about the topic. I hope that this blog post will serve as a reference that I can point people to when that question comes up in the future.

When pricing your wood the first thing that you must realize that unless you live with in 60 miles of my sawmill what I charge for my products means nothing to you when pricing yours. You must price your wood accordingly to what your market is where you live. My pricing is something that took me a good bit of time to come up with based on market research for my region.

I live in a small county, the closest city has a population of around 55k making that what most people would classify as rural. The cost of living here is low which also reflects the wages being sub par also. When pricing my wood I based it on the same principal that realtors use when putting houses on the market. Realtors use the term comps which means houses comparable to the one they are listing which gives them a base line to work with when pricing homes. I found sawmills both similar and bigger than my operation close to my region and got a copy of their price list which gave me a good starting point. On some of the wood I am cheaper and some higher, just depends on my customers wants/needs and the price of Timber that I am paying. Being the small region I am located I had to search out between 60 and 120 miles to find sawmills selling kiln dried wood, but they are out there if you just look.

Some sawmills may be tempted to advertise their wood on local classifieds and Craigslist/Facebook Marketplace. There is nothing wrong with that practice but remember not to market your wood with what I call Craigslist prices which are usually lower that what you should be getting. As I mentioned above do your homework on established sawmills and their pricing and use that as your baseline for your own wood. Also another thing to avoid is doing research online by seeing what companies are charging for what I call mail order wood. Those companies in my research have unfair high prices that mirror another term I use called Disney wood. If you have ever been to Disney World you will know that everything there from the water to the popcorn to parking your car is ridiculous in what they charge. Don't be tempted by those high Disney prices you see online, charge fair reasonable prices and you will be in it for the long game and not just get up to bat a few times. Some people may disagree with this strategy or have a better one. This is the approach I took a few years ago that has been a winner for me at my sawmill. Once again I will say what I charge for 8/4 figured Walnut in Northeast TN means nothing to what you would charge for the same board in Tampa Florida. Do the research which will not only get your the best money for your wood but make you a better sawyer and business at the end of the day. This post was not written out of spite or anger from the repetitive questions I get but to point people in the right direction when this topic comes up in the future, and gives you the reader more value at the end of the day. If you found this helpful or have another approach leave me a comment down below. Thank you for reading and please share this post to anyone else that you might think it could help when dealing with this topic.