# Calculating Board Feet of Burls and Other Irregular Shaped Lumber



## PhoenixWoodDesigns (Mar 4, 2014)

Bare with me here, as my thoughts are still rather scattered on this. Figuring board feet of a normal sized piece of lumber is quite simple, but where I'm getting myself confused is figuring out the number of board feet in a burl cap or other irregularly shaped piece of lumber (where there is a slope on one side, for instance.)

I'm thinking that the easiest way to price out pieces like that would be by finding the average weight of a board foot of that particular species of wood, and then calculating the board feet by weight -- but then you have the MC variable to consider.

How do you figure board feet in irregularly shaped pieces of wood without creating a super complex formula that accounts for slope, etc?


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## DKMD (Mar 4, 2014)

I think most avoid using board feet for the reasons you mentioned. Weight may not be reliable (for calculating board feet) since the density of burls can differ considerably from the normal timber of the same species.

Most of the burls I've purchased have been priced based on size. The Aussie burls are often sold by weight, but it's not a board foot rice derived from weight. 

You could check a few online vendors for comps for any particular species.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Mike1950 (Mar 4, 2014)

Weight might work with some but too many variables for me- MC or density. BLM can be light to very dense and heavy. I try to come close on board feet- works for me.


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## PhoenixWoodDesigns (Mar 4, 2014)

Aussie burls are kind of easy comparitively, because they are often sold to the state-side reseller by weight to begin with. Realtive mark-up then is a simple addition to the price per pound. I guess really the only reliable / fair way to price a burl cap would be estimate of size like you said (vs market prices of caps of that species / size, which can in itself, vary widely). Even then, though... take 10 burl caps that are in a (for example) 10" x 4" size at their largest point, and you'll have 10 burl with very different amounts of wood in them (due to bulges, tapers, and differing shapes.)


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## PhoenixWoodDesigns (Mar 4, 2014)

Mike1950 said:


> Weight might work with some but too many variables for me- MC or density. BLM can be light to very dense and heavy. I try to come close on board feet- works for me.



Your burls (at least the one's i've been lucky enough to experience,) are in big slabs. You've got a relatively consistent h x w x l for the most part, with some varying dimensions such as tapers etc. The "close enough" method for you works well, because it truly is going to be close. 

For smaller caps where you have that rounded out shape etc, the difference is a lot bigger (at least in calculation of BF).

EDIT: 

I have one other thought on the matter.... Theoretically, you could take the area of relatively evenly sized portions of the cap and then add them together to get the total area. So let's say that the burl cap is 4" thick at the thicket point (tapering down to 1" at the thinest), and for ease of this example, a consistent 5" wide and 12" long.

So, we'll take the the area of the section thats ~4" x 5" x 12", then the the area of the section that's ~ 3" x 5" x 12", etc... then add them all together. That's about as close as you're probably going to get.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Kevin (Mar 4, 2014)

Most burl buyers will pay however the vendor sells it, if they want it bad enough. As a seller you have to decide which route you want to go and stick with it. I don't like buying burls on weight (I rarely buy burl at all though and hardly ever caps) but if I sold burls for a living I would learn the weight model and stick with it. It's true that MC plays a big role but only over a long stretch of time. If you buy a pallet of Corrugata and sit on it for a year the amount of weight lost will be negligible, and more than made up by your % markup. 

As a buyer I look for easy-to-quantify volume but then I'm not a turner who goes through a lot of caps. Buyers of caps and natural burls have developed a keen sense of what is a correct market value and what isn't. If Doc and I were standing in a warehouse full of burls as partner on a buying spree, he'd be leading the charge for sure. My only job would be to hand him his check book when the time came to pay. 



As a seller, no way I'd sell burls any other way than by weight, based on a markup of what I paid for it.


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## PhoenixWoodDesigns (Mar 4, 2014)

Kevin said:


> Buyers of caps and natural burls have developed a keen sense of what is a correct market value and what isn't.



Kevin, you're exactly right on this especially. When I look at a cap for sale, I know about how much it should be priced out vs the market. It just seems like there should be a more quantifiable pricing model than "gut feeling", no matter how accurate it may be! That's how I look at it as a buyer.

Now, if I'm looking into SELLING caps, I'd certainly look at something more quantifiable. The weight method seems to be really the only reliable method for accounting purposes, with an accepted weight loss figured in per year due to drying. (Figured into your % mark-up, like you said.) 

I guess all this is brought on by trying to figure out the fairest way to sell any caps I may come across in the near future, and the need to be as fair as possible in my pricing.


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## Kevin (Mar 4, 2014)

PhoenixWoodDesigns said:


> I guess all this is brought on by trying to figure out the fairest way to sell any caps I may come across in the near future, and the need to be as fair as possible in my pricing.



Not a whole lot of buyer's remorse among burl addicts - they're just happy to get it usually.

Reactions: Agree 1


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