US Gallons to Board Feet (gal to bf)
1 US gallon equals 1.604166667 board feet (rounded).
How to convert US gallons to board feet
To convert US gallons to board feet, multiply the number of US gallons by 1.604166667. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply board feet by 0.6233766234 (rounded).
board feet = US gallons × 1.604166667
Example: 10 US gallons = 16.04166667 board feet.
Pints, quarts, gallons and fluid ounces differ between the US and the UK. Units are labeled 'US' or 'imperial' to avoid confusion.
About these units
US Gallon (gal)
Exactly 231 cubic inches or 3.785411784 liters (128 US fluid ounces). About 17% smaller than the imperial gallon.
The US gallon is a survivor of English wine trade. Around 1706, a statute in Queen Anne's reign fixed the wine gallon at exactly 231 cubic inches, settling confusion among the competing gallons for wine, ale and corn. British colonies in North America used that wine gallon, and in 1824 Britain replaced all its gallons with a new imperial one while the United States kept the old measure. It was adopted as the legal US standard in 1836 and is still defined as exactly 231 cubic inches, or 3.785411784 liters.
That makes the US gallon about 17 percent smaller than the imperial gallon, a difference that explains why American and British fuel-economy figures cannot be compared directly. Everyday uses are milk jugs, paint cans and gasoline pumps. One gallon divides evenly into four quarts, eight pints, sixteen cups and 128 fluid ounces. A gallon of water weighs a little over 8 pounds, an easy figure to remember when loading a car with water jugs.
1 US gallon = 3.785411784 liters (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Gallon; NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8: conversion factors for volume
Board Foot (bf)
144 cubic inches, a board 1 ft × 1 ft × 1 in. The standard unit for lumber in North America.
Lumber buyers in North America price timber by the board foot, the volume of a board 1 foot long, 1 foot wide and 1 inch thick. That is 144 cubic inches, one twelfth of a cubic foot, or about 2.36 liters. Thousands of board feet are written MBF, a shorthand common in sawmill and timber sale contracts.
A quirk makes the unit slightly slippery. Rough lumber is measured at its full sawn size, but planed softwood such as a retail two-by-four is counted by its nominal dimensions even though the finished board is smaller, so the calculated footage overstates the wood actually present. Hardwoods are measured at actual size and avoid this gap.
Foresters also estimate how many board feet a log will yield using log rules such as the Doyle rule, which allow for taper, saw kerf and waste. In Australia and New Zealand the same quantity was called the super foot or superficial foot until the 1970s. Related timber units include the cord, the Hoppus foot and the stere.
1 board foot = 2.359737216 liters (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Board foot; Wikipedia: Stere
Related conversions
- Board feet to US gallons (reverse)
- US gallons to liters
- US gallons to milliliters
- US gallons to US cups
- US gallons to US fluid ounces
- US gallons to cubic meters
- US gallons to cubic centimeters
- US gallons to US quarts
- US gallons to US pints
- US gallons to US tablespoons
- US gallons to US teaspoons
- US gallons to metric cups
- US gallons to metric tablespoons
- Liters to board feet
- Milliliters to board feet
- US cups to board feet
- US fluid ounces to board feet
See all volume units.