Lumber volume and the board foot

Sawn lumber volume is thickness × width × length. A board 50 mm × 150 mm × 4 m is 0.05 × 0.15 × 4 = 0.03 m³.

In North America the board foot is used: BF = thickness (in) × width (in) × length (ft) / 12. One board foot is 144 cubic inches, or 0.002359737 m³.

Nominal sizes such as 2×4 are larger than the finished dry board. Use actual dimensions for true volume.