timber by the board foot

[anthony wall]

so i have a question about a board foot of timber which i have always considered to be any piece of timber that has a total volume of 144 cubic inches eg 12inch by12inch by 1 inch or12inch 6inch by 2 inch and so on but yesterday i went into a timber merchant who insisted that a board foot was 6inch by 12 inch by 1 inch, then i noticed that his prices were very high compared to a neighbouring timber merchant (it seems to be the norm in thailand that all like products are amassed in one area which generaly makes for similar prices and easy shopping)however high prices can be accounted for by greedy owners or poor purchasing so my question is what do you consider as a board foot?

[Neil Brooks]

A board-foot is calculated as:

(Thickness x Width x Length) / 144

I ... uh ... might not be buying from the merchant that you're describing.

You're right. He's wrong.

Wow. Weird.

[Van Huskey]

What I consider a board foot is not relevant, but a board foot IS a 1x12x12 or as Neil points out the three dimensions divided by 144. It is simple and no other correct way to interpret it. I would only buy from him if his prices were less than half what others sold a correct board foot for, then again I probably wouldn't buy from him anyway. Tell him it is 2.36 liters, see if that helps...

[Paul Symchych]

Sounds like the old joke about the Persian rug dealer. He asked his 'gofer' to get him his ruler. The kid asked "which one master, the one for buying or the one for selling?"

[Jamie Buxton]

I'm a little amazed that the board-foot, a construct of English units used only in the USA any more, is used to measure wood on the other side of the world. And Thailand wasn't ever a British colony.

[shane lyall]

Run away! You are correct on the BF but it sounds like he is trying to make a few extra dollars by hook or crook.

[Guy Belleman]

It would appear from your description that the issue is that the rest of the world uses a different unit of measurement. While the USA still uses board feet, and your seller may be trying to appeal to your terms, in Thailand and whole rest of Asia, the measurement that is used is the cubic meter. Now, there is 424 Board feet per cubic meter, or about half a board foot equals 1/1000th of a cubic meter, which is the unit your seller is probably trying to equate to a full board foot. A board foot is a confusing unit of measure anyway, especially when boards are many times not the actual size, so that 1 5/8" is really 2" and 3 5/8" is really 4", making the computations of board feet interesting. Recommend learning the metric system, adapting to your Thailand environment and find the best dealer available. In Japan, I always take a tape measure with me and always find boards and plywood in both inches and metric units, meaning that I have to do some onsite calculations when buying the materials. 2x4s are the same size as in the USA, but are 2 meters long. Every type board seems to be in interesting dimensions.

[Jim Matthews]

Sounds to me like you're about to get the "Farang discount".

I found Thai people to be engaging and polite, but this sounds like a presumption of ignorance.
If you can nicely find a way to get a comparison on paper, he may reconsider his measurement.

More likely, he's just put you on notice to take your business elsewhere...

Rule number one of living abroad - Lots of them, one of you.

[anthony wall]

Sounds to me like you're about to get the "Farang discount".

I found Thai people to be engaging and polite, but this sounds like a presumption of ignorance.
If you can nicely find a way to get a comparison on paper, he may reconsider his measurement.

More likely, he's just put you on notice to take your business elsewhere...

Rule number one of living abroad - Lots of them, one of you.

after a further visit to the timber merchant where i bought my timber from i popped back to the one with the problem with the board foot this time the boss was in and he recognised me as the farang from his home village and immediately offered me a discount on any price that i could get from elsewhere and he would deliver the goods that night after he closed up so i consider that to be a very good outcome and he did tell the guy who talked to me the first time what a board foot was

[Paul Grothouse]

Are you sure he wasn't selling lineal feet of 1 x 6? Your calulation is correct he is wrong.

[Jeff Duncan]

I agree they may have been confused between a metric measuring system and bd. ft.. However in hardwoods 4/4 is 1" thick and 8/4 is 2". If you find something 1-5/8" it better be 6/4 strong or sold as construction lumber which is generally not by the bd. ft..

JeffD

[David Epperson]

I had a man cut some trees into lumber. He charged the same amount "per board foot" no matter how you had it cut. I was having it all cut5/4 so it was close enough for me, but I also thought it to be a bit off. There's the same board foot in a tree, but at 12"x1/2"x running ft there's a lot more sawing to be done than if I wanted 12"x3" x running foot. I ended up paying right at per running foot anyways just because that's the way I wanted it.

[anthony wall]

last night i had a visit from the owner, he knew exactly where i lived though i had never seen him before in the village it transpires that his assistant knew very well what a board foot was but was trying to get me to pay a lot more than i should for the timber then he would pocket the difference ,it seems that the boss had suspected this for some time and has now dismissed his assistant,he came to thank me and to reiterate his offer about my discount ,not really much else i can say about it

[Jeff Duncan]

That sounds like a guy who's going to go out of his way to treat you fairly in the future. I think I'd steer my business his way!

good luck,
jeffD