A board foot is volume, not a board shape
One board foot is the volume of a piece 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches long. Any dimensions with the same 144-cubic-inch product represent the same board-foot volume.
This converter operates on already-determined volume. It does not infer whether entered lumber dimensions are nominal, rough, surfaced, green, or dried.
Log scales are estimates, not volume units
Doyle, Scribner, and International ¼-inch rules estimate the lumber yield of a log from its dimensions and rule-specific assumptions. Their results can differ for the same log, so CalcOS does not place them in a fixed-unit conversion menu.
| Quantity | Definition used | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Board foot | 144 cubic inches | Solid geometric volume |
| Thousand board feet (MBF) | 1,000 board feet | Explicitly named to avoid abbreviation ambiguity |
| Cubic metric units | International inch bridge | 1 inch = 0.0254 meter exactly |
| Log-rule board feet | Rule-specific yield estimate | Excluded from fixed conversion |
Cords are deliberately excluded
A cord describes a stacked pile of wood that includes air space. Species, piece size, bark, and stacking affect solid-wood content, so a cord is not a fixed bridge to board feet or cubic meters of solid wood.
Trade totals can require separate rules
Invoices and scaling practices may specify nominal dimensions, deductions, rounding, or local rules. Use the governing contract or regulation for a commercial transaction; this calculator reports mathematical volume only.
Authoritative references: NIST Office of Weights and Measures — SI Units: Volume, NIST Handbook 44, and USDA Forest Service — National Log Scaling Handbook.