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cubic meter to board foot – How to convert m³ to board ft
Looking to convert cubic meter to board foot? Whether you're estimating lumber for construction, woodworking, or timber exports, understanding how to convert m³ to board feet is crucial. These two units represent very different systems—metric versus imperial—but they both help quantify wood volume in practical ways.
If you're also working with gallons, liters, or cubic feet, check out our Volume Converter for easy cross-unit conversion.
What Is a Cubic Meter?
A cubic meter (m³) is a metric unit of volume. It represents the space occupied by a cube with 1-meter sides. One cubic meter equals:
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1,000 liters
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35.3147 cubic feet
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61,023.7 cubic inches
Cubic meters are commonly used worldwide in construction, science, shipping, and logging—especially when exporting lumber in bulk.
What Is a Board Foot?
A board foot (bd ft) is an imperial unit of volume used primarily in North America for measuring lumber. One board foot is defined as:
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1 foot long × 1 foot wide × 1 inch thick
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Equals 144 cubic inches
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Used for pricing, inventory, and purchasing lumber
Unlike the cubic meter, which measures total volume, board foot accounts for usable surface area and thickness—making it a practical measure for furniture makers, carpenters, and sawmills.
How to Convert Cubic Meter to Board Foot
To convert cubic meters to board feet, use this conversion factor: 1 cubic meter = 423.776 board feet
Formula: Board Feet = Cubic Meters × 423.776
Example: 2 m³ × 423.776 = 847.552 board feet
This is an essential calculation when purchasing wood internationally or converting logs to sawn timber.
Need help the other way around? Use our Board Feet Calculator to go from board foot to volume in seconds.
Did you know?
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A single cubic meter of oak can weigh more than 750 kg—that's heavier than a grand piano. Wood species drastically affect volume-to-weight ratios, which is why many shippers use a Lumber Weight Calculator when planning logistics.
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The term "board foot" originated in the 1800s when rough-sawn boards were often sold by local mills based on their face size and approximate thickness. The standard “1 inch” assumption still holds—even when modern planed lumber is slightly thinner.
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In large-scale timber auctions, cubic meters are used to calculate lot size and value. However, board feet are often used at the retail level to price individual planks, especially in the U.S. and Canada.
A Tale from the Timber Trade
In the tropical hardwood markets of Southeast Asia, loggers often harvest large species like teak and merbau, measuring logs in cubic meters at the forest site. But when the wood arrives in North America, it’s sold in board feet, leading to huge shifts in pricing based on how efficiently logs are milled.
For instance, a 2.5 m³ shipment of mahogany could yield around 1,059 board feet of usable lumber—but only if sawing and drying are done efficiently. Poor cutting could reduce that yield by 20% or more, affecting both margins and final cost.
That’s why exporters, importers, and builders all need to understand how m³ and board ft relate—it's more than just math, it's money on the line.
Conclusion
If you’re in construction, furniture making, or forestry, converting cubic meter to board foot is a necessary skill—especially when working across borders. The two units may come from different systems, but they both help you make better decisions about how much wood you have, need, or can afford.
To simplify the process, use our Volume Converter for all types of volume conversions. And for more measurement tools across trades and industries, explore our full Conversion Tool library.
From logs to lumber, Jetcalculator helps you work smarter—with confidence in every calculation.
