Board Feet to Linear Feet Calculator

How do you convert board feet to linear feet?

Board feet to linear feet formula

First find board feet per linear foot = thickness(in) × width(in) ÷ 12. Then board feet = that value × linear feet, and linear feet = board feet ÷ that value. A nominal 1×6 has 1 × 6 ÷ 12 = 0.5 BF per linear foot. Every number on this page comes out of that one formula, run on nominal sizes — the same basis the yard bills on.

Worked example

You bought 30 board feet of 4/4 (1 in) × 6 in maple. BF per linear foot = 1 × 6 ÷ 12 = 0.5. Linear feet = 30 ÷ 0.5 = 60 linear feet of running board. That tells you how much shelf or trim you can actually produce. To start from dimensions instead, use the board foot calculator.

Linear feet to board feet calculator: which cross-section are you dividing by?

The reverse direction is the same relationship read from the other end: linear feet per board foot = 12 ÷ (thickness × width). The cross-section decides the answer, so it is worth keeping the per-foot values in front of you. A nominal 2x6 is the tidy case — 2 × 6 ÷ 12 = 1.000 BF per linear foot, which makes one billed board foot exactly one linear foot of 2x6.

The last column is why the two LF figures disagree: the invoice is built on nominal thickness and width, while 1.5″ × 5.5″ — the actual size in the lumber size chart — is what leaves the yard. The board-feet-per-foot side of the same arithmetic, for the four common framing depths, is on the board feet in a 2x10 page.

How many whole boards does a board-foot order buy?

Footage answers "how much wood"; the yard answers in whole sticks. So the useful next step is to turn length into a board count, round up, and see what the rounding costs. Work it with 300 billed board feet of 2x6, which at 1.000 BF per linear foot is exactly 300 linear feet before any rounding.

Two things move with stick length: the leftover and the delivered volume. Every line above bills 300–304 board feet, but the wood in the truck is 206.25–209.00 actual board feet, because 2x6 really runs 1.5 × 5.5 ÷ 12 = 0.6875 BF per linear foot — the same 1.45× gap why the yard charges more works through. Add the waste factor guide buffer on top of the rounded-up count, not under it.

Linear board feet calculator for a single stick

Same arithmetic, one board at a time: a 2x8x12 is 12 linear feet × 1.333 BF per foot = 16 board feet, so that stick carries 0.75 linear feet per board foot. Any tool that promises this conversion is running the same multiplication in a different order; the only thing that changes the answer is which basis it divides by.

Holding the length steady instead of the footage

Read the same multiplier from the length side and it becomes a purchasing rule. Five hundred linear feet of 2x6 is 500 billed board feet; the identical 500 linear feet in 2x8 is 500 × 1.333 = 666.67 billed board feet, and in 2x10 it is 833.33. Running it backwards, 300 billed board feet buys 225 linear feet of 2x8 (300 ÷ 1.333) but only 180 linear feet of 2x10 (300 ÷ 1.667). Same volume line on the invoice, 45 fewer feet of framing.

What does 1x6x12 mean? Reading the three-number size call

On a yard ticket, size calls run thickness × width in inches, then length in feet — so the third number is already your linear footage, and the board feet are one multiplication away. A 1x6x12 is a nominal 1 × 6 board 12 feet long: 12 linear feet, and 1 × 6 × 12 ÷ 12 = 6 board feet.

If you want the finished board-foot values for more sizes and stick lengths without doing the multiplication, they are on the board foot cheat sheet; this page is only the bridge between the two units.

Board ft to linear ft: the abbreviations on a tally

Tally sheets drop the word endings — bf or bd ft for board feet, lf or LF for running feet — so "40 bf 2x6" and "40 lf 2x6" describe the same pile, because 2x6 runs 1.000 BF per linear foot at nominal. Change the size and the two abbreviations stop being interchangeable: "40 lf 2x8" is 40 × 1.333 = 53.33 board feet, and "40 lf 2x4" is 26.67. Read the size before you read the unit.

Lineal feet or linear feet — is there a difference?

No. Both spellings mean length measured along the piece, one foot at a time, with width and thickness ignored; "lineal" is the older trade spelling you still see on flooring and moulding price lists. The unit comparison itself — what each measure means and when a dealer reaches for it — belongs to the board feet vs linear feet page.

Board foot to lineal foot calculator

Because the spellings are interchangeable, a tool labelled "lineal" asks for exactly what this one asks for: thickness and width. Check which basis it divides by before you trust the result. Dividing by 1.5 × 5.5 gives 1.45 linear feet per board foot of 2x6; dividing by 2 × 6 gives 1.00, and only the second matches the tally sheet.

Lineal feet to board feet, read the other way

20 lineal feet of 1x6 is 20 × 0.5 = 10 board feet; 20 lineal feet of 2x6 is 20 × 1.000 = 20 board feet. Length in either spelling, times BF per linear foot, is the whole conversion.

Why do hardwood and softwood use different units?

I deal in this gap every week. Hardwood comes in random widths, so the yard prices it per board foot — volume is the only fair common measure. Dimensional softwood has a fixed cross-section, so the home center sells a 1×6 by the stick or the linear foot. When a hardwood quote and a softwood quote sit side by side, I convert both to the same unit before I compare; running them through the lumber cost calculator on a common board-foot basis is the only honest apples-to-apples check.