Ordering wood.. Widths. Always confused!

[Kevin Villas]

I was wondering if anyone had a site that explained the widths of wood when ordering. I still seem to get confused on widths when ordering. I always get confused when figuring out how much I need to order when ordering in both rough or any sides already milled.

Example if you NEED a full 6 inches you order.. x etc etc, Think I would get the hang of it,but I still get confused.

Thanks

[Donnie Raines]

Kevin, you have me confused as to what you are trying to accomplish. If you are ordering rough stock, the measurements will be true to the rough form...or at least they should be! Normally, the thickness is the main concern...the width is what the width is(same for the lenght). So if you are buying true 4/4 stock you figure board footage by lenght X width X thickness divided by 144....this will yeild you the correct board footage. If you buy milled stock, they will measure the board footage to the rough demension and charge for that. So you may pay for 100 bdf but only get 90 board foot....depending on the begining thickness. The width is what the width is...typically to the nearest clean edge(excpet sap...that is no longer rated a defect to a certian %) and can be measured to the full edge. lenght is subjective....I go to the nearerst, lowest lenght. So if a board measures 98 inchs..I will measure it to 96(8 foot). the thickness is what the thickness is when in rough form.

I hope this is what your inquireing on..... :)

[Steve Jenkins]

Kevin, if you are ordering your lumber in the rough it's kind of tough to get exactly the width you need. It will depend on the specie and where from the tree it was cut. In other words you might get a piece of maple that is 8" wide on each end but may have some wane in the middle so only 6" is good there. Also the length you need will be a factor. If you are getting it locally it usually is best to pick it out yourself if you can. If ordering it try to be as specific as you can with the person on the other end. If you need 8' x 6" finished size tell them that. If you don't need the full 8' but can use 6 tell them that too.You can look up "hardwood lumber grades" and see what that has to say but it is only a guideline.

[Chris Padilla]

Kevin,

Lots of good info from Donnie and Steve: rough size is usually exact and finished is always less.

You didn't specifically ask what a board foot (bf) is but I'll go into it a bit.

Basically, it is a measurement of volume. The thickness is typically in inches, and the length and width are in feet. That isn't always true about the units for the length and width, however, so sometimes you need to convert inches into feet.

If you keep in mind that a board foot is the same as an inch-foot-foot (inch-foot squared or inch-foot²), you should know what to divide by to get bf.

For example, if you get the length, width, and thickness all in inches (inch-inch-inch or inch-cubed or inch³), you will need to divide by 144 (there are 144 inch² in 1 ft²) to convert two dimensions from inch to feet.

If you get the width and thickness in inches and the length in feet (inch-inch-feet or inch-squared-feet or inch²-feet), you will need to divide by 12 to convert one of the dimensions to feet.

Okay, sorry for the long, drawn-out post but if you understand the principles behind how lumber is measured (basically unit analysis), you should be fine understanding how and what to order.

[thomas prevost]

When people buy wood from us, we tell them to buy 10-15% extra for FAS or select. This goes up as the grade goes down. If one wants a six inch wide finshed board one has to buy 7 inches. Hardwood is sold in inch incrments- width and ususally to the nearst 1/2ft. for length Thus, you can buy a 5,6,7,---- inch wide boards. Others have discussed board feet, how you determined quantity purchased. Rough boards must be jointed on the edges, taking away some of the width. Also not all boards are perfectly straight and you may loose some additional due to extra jointing. Also, unless you pay a very premium price, there will be some lose due to defects.