Sources and Corrections

Primary authority register

These are the identified publications used to define units, constrain methods and reproduce released calculation fixtures. Links go to the publisher, not to search results. Retrieval and verification date: 3 September 2026.

• 7 CFR § 1217.4 — Definitions

  U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2025 annual CFR edition, Title 7, Volume 10, § 1217.4. Used for the statutory board-foot definition and the stated nominal-measure convention for softwood lumber.

• Voluntary Product Standards Program

  National Institute of Standards and Technology. Checked 3 September 2026 for the current PS 20-25 status and scope covering American softwood lumber.

• Federal Standard 376B — Preferred Metric Units for General Use by the Federal Government

  National Institute of Standards and Technology, 27 January 1993, conversion table entry for board foot to cubic metre. The site labels 0.002359737 m³ as the published table value; longer digits are derived from 144 cubic inches and the exact international inch.

• 2023 Rules for the Measurement & Inspection of Hardwood & Cypress

  National Hardwood Lumber Association, 2023 Rules Book, Measurement & Tally paragraphs 16–18. The official catalogue identifies the English edition and download. Used for hardwood measurement and tally context, not as a universal nominal-size substitution table.

• Timber Products Monitoring: Unit of Measure Conversion Factors for Roundwood Receiving Facilities

  USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report NRS-200, 2020. Used for log-rule definitions, formula-versus-table distinctions and warnings about geographic variants.

• SOLVE: A Computerized Sawmill Study Program

  USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report FPL-49, 1985, Appendix log-scale tables. Exact retained fixtures for Doyle and International ¼-inch are transcribed from the footage tables for supported diameters and lengths.

Independent educational checks

These publications do not replace the primary authority. They are used as separately published, practical comparisons for formulas, table values and known limitations.

• Valuing Standing Timber

  Penn State Extension, updated 18 June 2020. Practical cross-check for the 144 in³ board-foot definition, sawn-lumber formula and 16-foot Doyle and International examples.

• Forest Landowner's Guide to the Measurement of Timber and Logs

  Virginia Cooperative Extension, publication 420-085. Independent comparison of 16-foot log-rule values and limitations.

• Timber Inventory: A Primer for Landowners

  University of Florida IFAS Extension, publication FR426. Independent equation examples and evidence that a bare “Scribner” label can conceal materially different variants.

Exact log-table provenance

The released Doyle and International ¼-inch calculators use discrete values from the USDA Forest Service SOLVE tables, not an unlabelled approximation. A result records the named rule, small-end diameter inside bark, log length and table footage before any deduction. The retained regression set includes lower, typical and upper supported rows; for the common 16-inch by 16-foot fixture it expects 144 board feet under Doyle and 180 board feet under International ¼-inch.

Scribner remains withheld. The USDA table is retained for engineering comparison, but “Scribner,” “Scribner Decimal C” and regional eastside/westside practices cannot be treated as one interchangeable public method. BoardFoot Bench will not show a Scribner estimate until a launch variant is named and reproduced against two like-for-like independent references.

Corrections

If you find a transcription, calculation or interpretation issue, send the exact route, inputs, result and supporting authority through the contact route. A correction is assessed against the retained source, regression fixtures and any independent check before the live method changes. Material corrections receive a new review date.