Hardwoods and
Softwoods
These terms are
misleading. The term "hardwood" has no bearing on the actual
hardness of the wood. Hardwoods come from deciduous flowering
broadleaved trees. Softwoods come from coniferous trees with
needlelike leaves--most are evergreen, but a few are deciduous such as
larch. Some "hardwoods," aspen and balsa for example, are much
softer than some hard "softwoods" such as yew and larch.
Lumber
Measurement
The thickness of lumber is
read in quarters of inches.
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four-quarters
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4/4 |
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five-quarters
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5/4 |
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six-quarters
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6/4 |
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eight-quarters
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8/4 |
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etc.
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In
rough lumber (also called nominal thickness or size) that has not been surfaced (planed smooth).
4/4 rough = 1" board thickness
5/4 rough = 1¼" board thickness
6/4 rough = 1½" board thickness
8/4 rough = 2" board
thickness
But surfaced lumber
that has been planed smooth may vary slightly in thickness.
4/4 surfaced = ¾" to 13/16"
5/4 surfaced = 1" to 1 1/8"
6/4 surfaced = 1¼" to 1 3/8"
8/4 surfaced = 1¾" etc.
Green
and Net Lumber
If you were to buy
1000 feet of lumber on a "Green Measure," you would actually
get 930 feet of lumber, but if you were to buy 1000 feet of lumber using a
"Net Measure," you would get 1000 feet of lumber.
A
Board Foot
One Board Foot is
a unit of measurement that is
1 foot square by 1 inch thick
or
144 cubic inches
Either multiply the
length in feet times the thickness in inches times the width in inches and then
divide by 12
length' x thickness" x width" / 12
= 1 bf
or
Multiply the length in inches times
the thickness in inches times the width in inches and then divide by 144
length" x thickness" x width" /
144 = 1 bf
Click
here to use Our Board Foot Calculator
