Measuring lumber to sell

[chisel]

Not sure if this is the right forum to ask this question...

I have a bunch of rough-sawn cherry and pecan that I bought from my cousin. It was sawn at least 10 years ago on a circle mill and the guy who cut it and dried it didn't do it properly, IMHO, but we never start out as experts, do we?
 ;D
So some of it is not flat and some boards have pith, some boards are tapered, some need edging, etc. I put an ad in the paper a couple of days ago and have had some buyers, but I want to be sure I'm fair when I measure the boards to calc. bf.

E.g., if a board is 9' 8" long do you round down to 9 1/2 feet?
For width, do I measure the narrowest part on the board? That's what I've been doing. So if a board it 8 3/4" wide, do I round it either way?  

I'd appreciate any pointers or links to a good explanation on how to do this. Thanks.

chisel

[AtLast]

In inches......length x width x thickness = divided by 144

[sawwood]

 Chisel as AtLast said measure in Inchs. I measure at the
 wides part and then the lenth. Use AtLast way to find BF.

 Sawwood

[Ron Wenrich]

A few things about hardwood lumber.  Pith is allowed in boards, as is wane (bark or lack of wood).  Tapered boards are also allowed.  Hardwood is generally priced with the amount of defect free material in it.  Most of the problems can be cut around, and then panels are glued from the boards.  This is the industry standard, but doesn't mean you have to follow it.

The flat part depends alot on how straight the log was to begin with.  It probably was flat when it was sawed, but it didn't dry that way.  Some species don't dry that flat to begin with.

They don't look as pretty as a board that is consistent with sound square edges.  As long as the thickness is consistent, then it probably was pretty well sawn.

Board footage is figured as thickness (in inches) x width (in inches) x length (in feet) / 12.  There are 12 bd ft in a cu ft.    Grading sticks will measure a width to the closest bd ft.  Normally, we round everything to the closest foot.  You can go closer, if you like.

For a tapered board, you can do one of 2 things.  Measure at the midpoint of the board.  That would probably be a good average.  Or, you could measure each end, add together and divide by 2 to come up with an average width.  

Since you are selling the boards, you can do anything you want.  To give a good deal, you can measure the narrow way.  A happy customer is usually a repeat customer.

We have a handy calculator for figuring up board footage to the left.

[Frickman]

To add to what Ron said, when a commercial mill measures the width of a tapered board for scaling purposes, it is done 1/3 the length from the narrow end. Tapered boards are acceptable in truck load quantities. Of course, you can do anything you and the customer can agree on. The hardwood lumber rules as published by the NHLA are just a beginning point, and anything both parties can agree to is acceptable. Like Ron said, a happy customer is a repeat customer.

[Ga_Boy]

Gents,

Here is a point I am not clear on in terms of measuring bf.

For material that is less than 4/4, is it a common practice to measure the acctual thickness?

Example:

(1" X 12" X 96") / 144" = 8 bf

or

(3/4" X 12" X 96") / 144" = 6 bf

Next:

For calculating price per bf of planned material do you use the acctual thickness or base on 4/4?  

For this question I am trying to determine how much per bf the box stores are charging.



Mark

[chisel]

I knew how to calculate bf, but I was unclear on the rounding part. When the next customer calls and comes by to look at the lumber, I'll be sure we agree on all aspects of measuring and calc. bf. Thanks gents for your informative posts!

chisel

[Frickman]

Ga Boy,
The NHLA rules state that anything less than 1" thick is counted as 1" in board foot calculations. For planed lumber most places charge by the nominal thickness, ie: 3/4" thick is counted as 1". You can measure lumber anyway that you and the customer agree on. In hardwood lumber there is no Bureau of Weights and Measures or anything like that that dictates scale and grade. The industry is self-regulated.

The big box stores around here are charging about $5.00/bf for yellow poplar and $7.00 for red oak. Ouch!