board foot rule

[joe]

I'm looking for a rule (not a ruler :-) ) that lumberyards frequently use to calculate the number of bd ft in a board. It's 18" to 2' long, and has a metal hook at one end. The hook serves a dual purpose of hooking over the edge of the boards to slide them around (secondary purpose), but it also serves as a small hammer which leaves a small dimple in the board which is used as a reference point for the next swing of the rule/hammer. The way I understand that it's used is you measure the width of the board, find that marking on the body of the rule and use that point as a pivot to walk/mark your way to the end of the board, and the number of swings is the number of bdft.

Anyone know what I'm talking about, what it's called and where to get it?

Thanks!

Joe

[DonkeyHody]

Sure Joe, here's one.

"Even an old blind hog finds an acorn every now and then."

[Nova]

They're "lumber rules". See:

[joe]

Thanks guys.

Joe

>

[SonomaProducts.com]

To learn how to properly utilize this instrument, follow the directions precisely to get an accurate accounting of the actual bf of a piece of lumber, then as the customer looks away add approximately

33% just to help the companies bottom line.

[joe]

I use something like that method when I golf. When on the green, I place my ball marker directly behind my ball. When replacing the ball, I put it 33% closer to the hole than where the ball marker is.

Seems slightly more ethical when golfing.

In all seriousness, one of the lumberyards I go to has a guy who applies the inverse of your rule (is that a drive-by gloat? I forget the rules). I get the best deals there everytime. AAMOF, if I go and he's not working, I'll just peruse the piles, then go back home and try again the next day.

jc

33% just to help the companies bottom line.

[Tim W]

I don't have any idea what you are talking about. We used to measure timber in cubic feet and now we use cubic meters. What is a Board Foot?

Tim w

[Robert Allison]

12" x 12" x 1" = 1 board foot

Standard measurement for rough lumber for non construction hardwoods. IOW, when you go down to buy some cherry or maple in

4/4 or 8/4, you are going to buy it by the board foot.

[joe]

144 cubic inches or 0.002359 cubic meters

Jc

[SonomaProducts.com]

Yeah, one place that I frequent is pretty open about adding in some specific percentage to account for the skip planing and straight edging, etc. I always tell them that is a scam in my opinin and they should just add it into the bf price. But no, they just add in some non-existant bf. They alway claim FAS grade too but they won't let me charge back the knots, cracks and white wood that make 20%+ drop very common.

I feel it is like advertis> I use something like that method when I golf. =A0When on the green, I plac= e my

[Ross Hebeisen]

lumber graders call it a green stick. you could also check

it's a loggers supply outfit in Ca. and Tn. they carry them in their catalog called board rule. ross

[B A R R Y]

One of the magazines, maybe Popular "Woodworking" or "Woodworking" recently had an article on how to make one. Essentially, it was a hooked ruler with columns for the length of the board. The user reads the width directly to the length for the board feet.

They're not a precision device, so it looked easy. I think he marked

4-5-6-7-8 foot columns, which were doubled for 8-10-12-14-16 foot boards. He may also have made versions for different thicknesses of stock.

If you can't find the article, you could easily make one with basic math and the photos from the other links. My local dealer uses rulers that appear to be shop made.

[Tim W]

Alright. A twelfth of a cubic foot. excellent. And you see what a stupid way of measuring timber a cubic meter is. Order it over the phone and you may get ten times or a tenth of what you wanted.

Luckily a square meter is quite close to ten square feet so an old bloke like me can think in cubic feet then easily approximate to cubic meters by multiplying by ten, er I mean a hundred, no ten thousand if you started with board feet but only one thousand from cubic feet which is three decimal places to the left, no right I think, always remmember a four figure number that's three decimal places except we want four. Anyway you can use a calculator.

Tim w

[J. Clarke]

How about two and a half liters? Works as well for dry measure as for liquid.

[Ross Hebeisen]

you ever sit in one place to long and have your leg and foot fall to sleep? now thatsa one board foot. ross

[joe]

You're making my brain hurt.

Joe

[Gerald Ross]

Or is it a bored foot?

[Puckdropper]

[e-mail] (Ross Hebeisen) wrote in news:9034-47D7E175-802 @baytvnwsxa002.msntv.msn.com:

No, I think a board foot is a wooden replacement foot for amputees.

Puckdropper

[joe]

Blasphemer!

Obviously no McGyver fan. You can do *anything* with enough caulk, cardboard and duct tape

jc

[J. Clarke]

But only if you also have chewing gum and a Swiss Army Knife.