OneTIME Tool - Paolini Lumber Rule - 2014 - Retired May 26, 2014
Your Must Have Lumberyard Companion. You know how much stock you need for your project but selecting boards at the lumber yard and figuring their board foot measure can get confusing quickly. If you buy too much, you get sticker shock at checkout. You buy too little and you'll be making a second trip to complete your project. The Paolini Lumber Rule, by professional woodworker Gregory Paolini, eliminates the guesswork and it's easy and simple to use. Leave your tape measure and calculator at home.
Lumber Rule Use – 101. If you don't know how to use a lumber rule to find how many board feet a given board contains, watch our short video. In the meantime, here's the crash course:
Determine the thickness of a board using the notched head at the top of the rule. Now determine the length of the board. Our Paolini Rule is two feet long making it easy to walk the ruler down the board to find its length. Next, lay the Lumber Rule across the width of the board then read the scale that corresponds to the board length. Done!
Paolini Lumber Rule Features. Woodpeckers Lumber Rule is extremely versatile. Its board length scales are 5', 6' and 8'. One side is used for 4/4 stock and the other side 5/4 material. These lengths and thicknesses were selected for their ease of calculating board feet in commonly used lumber. For example, a 10' board is measured on the 5' scale and the result is simply doubled. An 8/4 board is measured using the 4/4 side of the rule and the result is once again doubled.
Rugged and Easy to Read. Our Lumber Rule is made from extremely tough phenolic resins so it holds up to lumberyard use. It has a bright, white finish with large numbers and heavy rule lines that make for “at-a-glance” reading.
The top of the rule is notched for quickly gauging 4/4, 5/4, 6/4 and 8/4 stock.
And when gauging stock width, just index the edge of the board using either the stainless steel studs or the tool's hook. A convenient inch scale is on each side of the rule.
Understanding Board Foot Measure. Most hardwood lumber is sold based on a price per board foot. Board foot measure is also a handy tool for estimating how much lumber you'll need for a given project.
Board foot measure (BFM) is a measure of the volume of wood in a board based on its width, length and thickness. It is calculated when the board is “rough”, meaning before it has been planed to finished thickness or the edges straightened.
BFM uses board thickness as indicated 4/4 (meaning four, quarters of an inch) or 1” thick. Likewise, 5/4 is 1¼”, 6/4 is 1 1/2”, 8/4 is 2” thick, etc.
An easy example of BFM is a 4/4 board (1”), that is 12” wide and 12” long, or one square foot, or 144 square inches. This equals 1 board foot. If the board were 2' long and 12” wide it equals 2 board feet. An 8' long board would be 8 board feet, etc.
Now, think about these same boards being 2” thick. Their total volume would double. The 1' long board would contain 2 board feet. The 2' long board 4 board feet and 8' long board 16 board feet.
The mathematical formula for calculating board feet is:
Thickness x Width x Length / 144 = Board Feet.
Using the formula allows you to calculate board feet when, as most boards are, more or less than 12” wide.
Learning to use a lumber rule is easy and eliminates the need for calculating board feet using the formula. Once you know the length of a board, you simply lay the rule across the board and read the scale based on the width. The scale tells you the number of board feet.
Now watch the video to see how easy it is find board foot measure of any board using a lumber rule.
Order Your Paolini Lumber Rule Today! Woodpeckers Paolini Lumber Rule can be pre-ordered until Monday May 26th , 2014 at which time it will be retired. Like all Woodpeckers OneTime Tools, the Lumber Rule is only made to order in our shop just outside Cleveland, Ohio.
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| Country of Manufacture | United States |
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