Lumber Volume
About Lumber Volume Conversion
Lumber volume measurement uses specialized units that account for the timber industry's unique conventions. The board foot (North America) and cubic meter (international) are primary units, but conversion isn't simply geometric—nominal vs actual lumber dimensions complicate matters. A "2×4" isn't actually 2 inches by 4 inches, and pricing may use nominal dimensions while construction calculations need actual sizes.
Understanding lumber volume is essential for construction estimating, timber purchasing, sawmill operations, and international wood trade. Different countries use different standards for measuring standing timber, logs, and sawn lumber—the Doyle, Scribner, and International log rules all give different board-foot yields from the same log. Firewood has its own units (cords) that measure stacked volume rather than solid wood content.
Our converter handles common lumber volume units used in forestry, sawmilling, and construction.
Common Lumber Volume Conversions
| From | To | Multiply By |
|---|---|---|
| board foot (bf) | m³ | 0.002360 |
| m³ | board foot | 423.8 |
| board foot | ft³ | 0.0833 |
| ft³ | board foot | 12 |
| MBF (1000 bf) | m³ | 2.360 |
| m³ | MBF | 0.4238 |
| cord (wood) | m³ | 3.625 |
| cord | ft³ | 128 |
Lumber Volume Unit Reference
Board foot (bf) – The standard North American lumber volume unit, equal to 144 cubic inches (nominally 1" × 12" × 12", or 1" thick × 1 foot square). Used for pricing dimensional lumber and hardwoods. Lumber yards calculate board feet from nominal dimensions for pricing. MBF (thousand board feet) is used for large quantities; MMBF (million board feet) for timber sales.
Cubic meter (m³) – The international standard for timber volume, used in global trade and forestry. 1 m³ ≈ 423.8 board feet (exact conversion from the geometric definition). European and Asian timber markets quote prices per cubic meter. Standing timber inventories worldwide use cubic meters.
Cubic foot (ft³) – 1 ft³ = 12 board feet = 1728 cubic inches = 0.0283 m³. Sometimes used for log volume and firewood. Less common than board feet in the lumber trade but appears in some log scaling systems.
Cord – The standard firewood measure in North America. 1 cord = 4' × 4' × 8' = 128 ft³ stacked volume ≈ 3.62 m³. Because of air gaps between logs, actual solid wood content is typically 80-90 cubic feet (60-70%). A "face cord" or "rick" (4' × 8' × 16") is 1/3 of a full cord.
Hoppus foot – A British log measurement that estimates recoverable sawn timber from a round log, accounting for taper and waste. 1 hoppus foot = (quarter-girth in inches)² × length in feet / 144. Approximately 1.273 true cubic feet per hoppus foot. Still used in some Commonwealth countries.