January 2023

Greetings Friends,

Happy New Year.

I hope your holidays were great. I usually look forward to getting through this next week so that business can begin to stabilize and return to normal. The two weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year’s always feel less productive. Everyone is shorthanded so getting feedback from vendors and suppliers goes in slow motion. Understandably, lots of people take well-deserved time off over the holidays.

This past week I worked with a couple in our showroom that was planning to build a mission bed for a grandchild. The bed plan had a lot of parts and they wanted some design and construction assistance as well as an approximate cost for the wood. This month I thought I would explain how to tally (measure) lumber. It’s relatively easy once you grasp the concept and formula. Here’s my effort to try to simplify the explanation.

Lumber is sold by the board foot. A board foot of lumber is equal to 144 cubic inches. At our store, it is important to remember that all wood is tallied in the rough before any milling. One board foot of lumber is the equivalent of 1 square foot of lumber, 1” thick. So, a typical 1” x 6” x 10’ long board that you would purchase at a typical lumber yard or box store has already been milled to ¾” x 5 ½” x 10’. This board has been originally tallied as a full 1” x 6”, which is how you are charged.

Lumber yards typically sell lumber in equal width increments such as a 1” x 4” (3/4” x 3 ½”), 1” x 6” (3/4” x 5 ½”), 1” x 8” (3/4” x 7 ½”), etc. The lengths are usually 8’ to 16’ long, also in equal increments. This planned product is referred to as S4S (surfaced 4 sides) or D4S (dressed 4 sides). It’s already been milled.

At Parkerville it’s a bit different. We buy all of our lumber in the rough and it is random length and random width. Grading rules dictate the minimum lengths and widths and this varies slightly with different species. Before the lumber goes in our racks it has already been skim planned for thickness (allowing for a better look at the grain and color of the wood) and has had one long edge ripped so that you have one straight edge when you purchase lumber from us. So, the typical ¾” x 5 ½” board that you would buy elsewhere would be 15/16” thick x a full 6” or more in our rack.

Our lumber lets you start with a thicker board, so you have more flexibility when jointing and planing, have thicker material for your final project if desired, as well as having the ability to glue up wider panels and then resurface after. We provide all the services to size your lumber, glue, resurface, and more if you desire.

When referring to lumber thickness, the proper terminology is as follows: 4/4 is “four quarter”, 5/4 is “five quarter”, 6/4 is “six quarter”, 8/4 is “eight quarter” 12/4 is “twelve quarter”, and of course 16/4 is “sixteen quarter”.

Lumber thickness is measured as follows:

4/4 wood is sawn 1” thick – Finishes at ¾” (or slightly thicker) – In our rack at 15/16”
5/4 wood is sawn 1 1/4” thick – Finishes at 1” (or slightly thicker) – In our rack at 1 3/16”
6/4 wood is sawn 1 1/2” thick – Finishes at 1 1/2” (or slightly thicker) – In our rack at 1 7/16”
8/4 wood is sawn 2” thick – Finishes at 1¾” (or slightly thicker) – In our rack at 1 15/16”
12/4 wood is sawn 3” thick – Finishes at 2 ¾” (or slightly thicker) – In our rack at 2 15/16”
16/4 wood is sawn 4” thick – Finishes at 3 ¾” (or slightly thicker) – In our rack at 3 15/16”

When estimating the board footage required for a project you first need a cut list of parts and their sizes. With these sizes you can precisely calculate how many board feet of lumber will be required for your project with no waste. The variable is the waste factor which is an estimate. To make your parts you have to plane the wood to thickness and trim the ends and edges which makes sawdust. We generally recommend getting around 30% more wood than needed to factor for this waste. This can vary based on the nature of your project, how close the rough lumber is to your final dimensions and with different species.

The simple calculation to tally wood is to multiply the thickness (t) x the width (w) x the length (l). This will give you the exact number of cubic inches in that board. Divide this total number of cubic inches by 144 (number of cubic inches in a board foot of wood) and that will give you the exact footage in that piece. Now you have to add the 30% waste factor. This will give you an estimate on how much wood you will have to purchase. IMPORTANT – Do this calculation using all inches, not feet.

Example: Let’s say you’re building a bed and you’ll need the following material.
THIS IS NOT A REAL PROJECT

4 – 2 ½ x 2 ½ x 36” – Bed Posts (these will be from 12/4 stock. 3” in the rough)
Calculation – 3” x 3” x 36” = 324 cubic inches. X 4 posts = 1296 cubic inches.
1296 c.i. div. by 144 = 9 board feet. 9 x 1.3 (this is the 30% waste factor) = 11.7 board feet of material required. For estimating round up to 12 b.f.

2 – 1” x 6” x 84” – Side Rails (these will come from 5/4 stock. 1 ¼” in the rough)
Calculation – 1.25 (1 ¼”) thickness of 5/4 stock) x 6” x 84” (7 ft) = 630 c.i.
Two pieces are required so you have 1260 c.i. , div. by 144 = 8.75 bf. X 1.3 = 11.375 b.f.
Again, for estimating round up to 12 bf.

9 – ¾” x 7” x 60” – Headboard & Footboard (these will come from 4/4 stock. 1” in the rough) – These boards will be used to glue up the headboard and the footboard. We’ll be using 5 for the headboard and 4 for the footboard.
Calculation – 1” x 7” x 60” = 420 c.i. x 9 pieces = 3,780 c.i. = 144 = 26.25 b.f. x 1.3 = just over 34 b.f.

One way to minimize your waste factor is to come in and select your own wood. This allows you to more accurately layout which pieces come from which boards. This can be quite time consuming for larger, more complicated projects. It’s certainly best to have enough wood from the same batch / purchase to complete your project. Some customers spend considerable time selecting their wood.

In closing I want to remind you that we are here to assist you with confirming your tally and to assist with your projects in any way we can. Take advantage of our skilled work force to help with your technical questions and to take advantage of our equipment. We are here to help you succeed and build beautiful projects.

Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous new year. As always, thank for your ongoing support and patronage. We wouldn’t be here without you and we don’t take your business for granted.

I hope to see you at the shop.

Sincerely,

David Harris
President