shipwright wrote:Congrats Mike. Now all you need is a program that spots defects, checked ends, "warehouse shrinkage", oops factor, bad grain and can plan..Ok if I take two of the short pieces and one of the long ones out of a 3" strip off the side and if I overlap the narrow ends of the tapers I can get two 29" pieces out of the 48' piece left over...etc. Good luck with all that. And a board foot is 12" wide, 12" long and 1" thick. The math ,no the arithmatic, is pretty simple. If you can't do board feet in your head, you likely can't find your computer. Just poking a bit of fun Mike.
Paul M
OK show off....Quick...how many board feet of stock do you need to go buy to make 132 strips of 1-5/8"W x 3/8"T x 6-7/8"L from 6/4 hardwood and how much will that cost you at $11.32 per B.F.? If you want to spend the time doing that in you head, have at it. I'll use the calculator anytime.
Paul's joshing of your measurements make a good point, Mike. If you were to figure board footage this way and take that measurement to a lumber yard, you will very likely get too little lumber.
Remember that boards are measured in only 1/4" increments of thickness - and only full inches of width for hardwoods and only in even numbers of inches for softwoods. To add more confusion, the actual thickness and width measurements of boards will always measure less than the board footage. Lengths are only in full feet for hardwoods and even number feet for softwoods. Also there is a trim allowance added to length.
If you were to use a computer and that program to calculate the board feet needed for a project then purchase that Bd. Footage - you will be short by quite a bit - even more than 20%! You would be missing the extra wood needed for saw kerf, as well as any bits of wood you have to discard because of defects, not to mention the under-size of the stated board foot, as sold. ( a 1X6 actually measures 3/4"X 5½", etc.)
As Paul said, Board Feet measurement arithmetic is a simple thing! It doesn't lend itself to engineering math. It just doesn't make good sense. Kinda like measuring a peck of pine seeds with a micrometer. It can be done, but the answer will be crap.
Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
mickyd wrote:OK show off....Quick...how many board feet of stock do you need to go buy to make 132 strips of 1-5/8"W x 3/8"T x 6-7/8"L from 6/4 hardwood and how much will that cost you at $11.32 per B.F.? If you want to spend the time doing that in you head, have at it. I'll use the calculator anytime.
Just for the fun of it I ran the above example using the numbers as the program would allow. The result was 9.22 BF. I then change to 4/4 stock as that would seem to be a better fit and it come down to 6.16 BF. Then I got really wild and crazy and went to 14/4 stock and got down to 4.96 BF. Another few tweaks and I got up to 12.29 BF by saying no re sawing.
I guess one could do this but it needs a bit more work or you have to already know how you intend to do the cutting of the stock.
I'd say we could do it in 879 lines of excel code....
Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]
charlese wrote:Paul's joshing of your measurements make a good point, Mike. If you were to figure board footage this way and take that measurement to a lumber yard, you will very likely get too little lumber.
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OK, to show you I am open, tell me how you (and this isn't necessarily directed to you Chuck, but anyone who wants to answer) would approach the material estimation on the Candle lantern based on the material list shown on page 5 of the plan pdf? How much of what size would you go out and buy and why?
Then do the example I provided to shipwrights post.
The calculator sure seems like an easy way to get a real good estimate.
mickyd wrote:OK, to show you I am open, tell me how you (and this isn't necessarily directed to you Chuck, but anyone who wants to answer) would approach the material estimation on the Candle lantern based on the material list shown on page 5 of the plan pdf? How much of what size would you go out and buy and why?
Then do the example I provided to shipwrights post.
The calculator sure seems like an easy way to get a real good estimate.
Did I misunderstand? I thought you were looking for sw that would give you the 'optimum' cutting of a given set of 'lumber'. It would tell you what sizes to cut out of which pieces.
What you discovered is a calculator of the minimum amount of bd ft needed. You still need to figger out what and how to cut it!
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╟JPG ╢
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Goldie(Bought New SN 377425)/4" jointer/6" beltsander/12" planer/stripsander/bandsaw/powerstation /Scroll saw/Jig saw /Craftsman 10" ras/Craftsman 6" thicknessplaner/ Dayton10"tablesaw(restoredfromneighborstrashpile)/ Mark VII restoration in 'progress'/ 10E[/size](SN E3779) restoration in progress, a 510 on the back burner and a growing pile of items to be eventually returned to useful life. - aka Red Grange
I still like my system best. If a rough calculation in my head says 4 board feet, I go buy "about" 12 board feet in random widths and lengths being sure I get a couple of boards long enough for any long pieces I might need.
My hardwood dealer is about 25 miles away so I don't want to make another trip due to figuring too close. That second trip cost too and I would rather spend for wood than gas.
I use what I need and put the rest in the rack. Now I have enough for the next project and will not be making a trip (or two) for that wood. By giving the dealer that much flexibility to fill my order and not "pennying" him to death he will often "round down" when he makes out the bill and I get a bd ft or two for free. He also smiles when I walk in instead of cringing. He just isn't a tedious calculation sort of guy.
I should say here that I do normally work only with native hardwoods (and a little lumberyard pine) and generally "exotics" don't do a lot for me. Those who deal in exotics are more used to dealing close. My dealer saws and dries his own stuff so each board foot does not have nearly as direct of a cost as the dealer that buys and resells more costly wood shipped in and often already planed.
I also buy a little wood cheap at auctions. I have a pallet of a little over 200 bd ft of kiln dried black walnut in boards 1"x4" (and 5")x5' waiting to be made into "something" that I bought for just over $70. I also have some stuff that I sawed over 15 years ago. It should be dry by now.
I also enjoy working with salvage woods. A lot of it is free. It is more work but I like saving it.
Now that I have retired from baling hay I have a lot of unused barn loft space that will become home to many of the small stacks of wood I have stuck in various buildings scattered around. It will be nice to get it all in one loft where I can look through it all together.
Sitting here writing this I am realizing just how sawdust barren I have been for a few years as far as projects go. Most of what I have done in recent years has been part of remodeling work and repairs on furniture. I really must rectify that this year.
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farmer
Francis Robinson
I did not equip with Shopsmiths in spite of the setups but because of them.
1 1988 - Mark V 510 (bought new), 4 Poly vee 1 1/8th HP Mark V's, Mark VII, 1 Mark V Mini, 1 Frankensmith, 1 10-ER, 1 Mark V Push-me-Pull-me Drillpress, SS bandsaw, belt sander, jointer, jigsaw, shaper attach, mortising attach, TS-3650 Rigid tablesaw, RAS, 6" long bed jointer, Foley/Belsaw Planer/molder/ripsaw, 1" sander, oscillating spindle/belt sander, Scroll saw, Woodmizer sawmill
JPG40504 wrote:Did I misunderstand? I thought you were looking for sw that would give you the 'optimum' cutting of a given set of 'lumber'. It would tell you what sizes to cut out of which pieces.
What you discovered is a calculator of the minimum amount of bd ft needed. You still need to figger out what and how to cut it!
No you didn't misunderstand. While you were snoozing, the goal was modified. Cutting layout optimization is now phase II. I fell across the calculator, which sure made a nice phase I.
robinson46176 wrote:I still like my system best. If a rough calculation in my head says 4 board feet, I go buy "about" 12 board feet in random widths and lengths being sure I get a couple of boards long enough for any long pieces I might need.
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I like that system farmer!!! Bet you don't run short too ofter.
I have just tried to catch up a bit on this thread. Sepele is commonly referred to as African Mahogany although it is a lot nicer than some others in that same category. Sepele does not have the ribbon stripes that some of the others do and the color is darker and more consistent. As to board feet it is measured when the lumber is green and in the rough. You lose 8 to 10 percent during the drying process. You do not lose for surface planing because it is cut in quarters aka 4/4, 6/4, 8/4 etc. You will loose for straight line ripping or for S4S (surfaced 4 sides) I buy all my lumber straight line riped and surfaced 2 sides. Typical loss for straight line ripping is around 8 percent. So when I order 500 board feet of lumber I have lost 16 to 18 percent to the processing.
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Mark
2017 Power Pro Mark 7
2002 50th anniversary model 520
and a few other woodworking tools.
If you want to spend the time doing that in you head, have at it. I'll use the calculator anytime. 
He just isn't a tedious calculation sort of guy.