# Need help figuring out amount of material?



## Fizzabit (Feb 17, 2017)

Hello, Can someone help me figure how much material is needed for a small butcher block top.
I need to make a butcher block top with end grain facing up.
1 1/2 “ thick
21” wide and 
42” long.
I will be purchasing 8/4 board from my lumber yard.
The guy there said 48 board feet is required which sounds like way to much.
They quoted me a price for Walnut just over $700
Is there a calculator I can use ?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Wayne


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Walnut because of the open grain isn't one of the best woods to use for a butcher block that is used. The open pores of the wood would hold bacteria a lot easier. Then if you are going to use a dark wood like that you might consider mixing it with a lighter wood such as maple for appearance.

Figuring the material, it's best to think a little oversized while you are gluing it up and then afterwards cut it down to a finished size. Your 8/4 wood should finish out to 1 3/4" thick. This would make for 25 rows of wood 22" wide and 1 9/16" long. Allowing for the saw cut you would need a panel 1 3/4" x 22" x 43" long. This would amount to a little over 13 board feet of wood. Including about 30% waste you might purchase 17 board feet.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

A board foot is a volume of wood that is 12 inches x 12 inches x 1 inch. 

You can calculate board feet by multiplying the length, width, and height in inches, then divide by 144.

21 x 42 x 1.5 / 144 = 9.2 board feet. The rest is waste from cutting, planing, trimming, shaping, and sanding, plus the excess scraps that you will save for future projects. 

Steve's estimate is for a slightly thicker cutting board than the one the OP specified. His estimate for the amount of lumber needed seems reasonable to me.

Another important point: 
A cutting board this size weighs a lot. A 21 x 42 x 1.5 inch cutting board made from walnut would weight over 30 pounds (nearly 14 kilograms). My spouse would not want a cutting board that heavy.


(Here is the math, which you can safely ignore: Walnut is roughly 40 pounds per cubic foot. That's 3.3 pounds per board foot. 9.2 x 3.3 = 30.4 lb; = 13.8 kg)


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## WeebyWoodWorker (Jun 11, 2017)

https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/end-grain-cutting-board-length-calculation-182145/


There was a thread on this a while ago, might be some helpful info in there


-T


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Coming in late ...Let's do the math:*

A width of 21" and length of 42" by 1.5" thick.

21 X 42 X 1.5 = 1323 cu in

1323 ./. 144 = 9.1875 BF (no waste allowance)

Allowing for waste and saw cuts 20%, add another 2 BF. 

Call it 12 BF @ $9.70 for 8/4 = $112.00. Pricing will vary with your location and whether the boards are surface 4 S. 

https://www.woodvendors.com/walnut-lumber/



If Walnut is an issue, maybe Teak?


You will NOT carry this or move this around, it's too heavy. It should be used like the old fashioned ones, with legs attached. Unless we are missing something ...... ? :vs_cool:


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## Fizzabit (Feb 17, 2017)

Thanks guys for all the help.
My wife will not have to move anything because it’s going to be a butcher block countertop.
I have already built a small mobile kitchen island with 3 drawers and 2 raised panel doors.
Thanks for helping me understand that board feet is volume.
I’m guessing the term lineal feet is strictly the length of any given wood.
Like if I purchased 8 feet of 1”x12” board that would be called 8 lineal feet of that particular size.
Do I have that correct?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Fizzabit said:


> Thanks guys for all the help.
> My wife will not have to move anything because it’s going to be a butcher block countertop.
> I have already built a small mobile kitchen island with 3 drawers and 2 raised panel doors.
> Thanks for helping me understand that board feet is volume.
> ...


On a 1x12x8' lineal feet and board feet are the same. The board is considered 12" wide even though it is 11 1/4" wide. It's considered that because it was 12" wide when it came out of the log. It's after straightening and machining the edges 3/4" was removed in the process. Anyway board feet and square feet are the same thing in a way. If it's 4/4 wood it's the same but if it's 8/4 it's twice the square feet because it's twice as thick as 4/4.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Carefully a guy at work did this and when he went to lift it cracked in half. Lots of support:wink:...


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