ContractorHandbook

How Many Board Feet in a 1x6x8?

Total board feet

4 bf

One nominal 1x6, eight feet long.

thick, inwide, inlength, ftthickness x width x length / 12 = board feet
A board foot is a volume, not a length, and hardwood is priced in it. Thickness and width in inches, length in feet, divided by twelve, which is why a wide board costs more per foot of run than a narrow one of the same species.

How that number is worked out

These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.

  • Thickness, nominal1 in
  • Width, nominal6 in
  • Length8 ft
  • How many pieces1
  • Price per board foot, 0 to skip0 $

Total board feet4 bf

Board feet per piece4
Pieces1
Total board feet4
Total linear feet8 lf

Length compared

The same stick in every length in the table.

LengthTotal board feet
8 ft4 bf
10 ft5 bf
12 ft6 bf
14 ft7 bf
16 ft8 bf

What else matters here

A 1x6x8 is exactly 4 board feet.

Counting it nominally is the convention the whole lumber trade prices against.

What this calculator assumes

  • A board foot is nominal thickness times nominal width times length in feet, divided by 12. Use the nominal size, the 2 and the 6 in a 2x6, not the real 1.5 by 5.5.
  • Hardwood is sold by the board foot. Softwood framing is usually sold by the piece, so this is for pricing and for comparing two quotes written differently.

Questions people ask

How many board feet in a 1x6x8?

Exactly 4 board feet, counted nominally.

Should I use nominal or actual size?

Nominal. A 2x4 counts as 2 by 4 even though it measures 1.5 by 3.5.

What is a board foot?

The volume of a piece one inch thick, twelve inches wide and twelve inches long, which is 144 cubic inches. Board feet are a volume measure, so a 1x12 and a 2x6 of the same length hold the same number of them.

Different numbers?

The board foot calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.

Other common sizes

5 more sizes are answered on the board foot calculator page