Replies

1. 
   LeeGrindinger | Jan 21, 2005 06:53pm | #1

   This is not terribly accurate but instead a very loose guideline. What you're asking about is called "log tally".

   Determine the cubic feet of wood in a log by squaring the radius and multiplying it by Pi (3.14). Convert it to the same increment as the length of the log and multiply it by the length.

   Deduct 25% or so due to waste from waney edges and saw kerfs.

   Convert to board feet by dividing the cubic foot total by twelve.

   Measure from the small end of the log for your radius.

   This is just rule of thumb stuff. Log shapes and board thicknesses will affect the totals.

   Lee

1. 
   alfie | Jan 21, 2005 07:07pm | #2

   Thanks. I'll pass it along. Personally, I would calculate it manually rather than use a "calculator", simply becasue that way I have an intuitive feel for the numbers. However my friend in this case had trouble even grasping the notion of "board-foot", and may have trouble doing this.

1. 
   LeeGrindinger | Jan 21, 2005 07:26pm | #3

   I'm assuming you don't have a log tally stick so how do you do it manually? What do you mean?Lee

1. 
   UncleDunc | Jan 21, 2005 09:56pm | #4

   >> ... so how do you do it manually?Isn't the method you just described in message #2 the way to do it manually?

1. 
   LeeGrindinger | Jan 21, 2005 11:06pm | #5

   Well, perhaps I'm lost. My impression was that Alfred would not use the calculator method I outlined but would pass it along to his friend.A log tally stick makes short work of this process but it's either a tally stick or the calculator method so I asked "Huh? What is the manual method?"I'm easily confused.Lee

2. 
   alfie | Jan 21, 2005 11:51pm | #6

   A message typed in haste leads to being less-than-clear, as I see from reading the follow-ups to my prior reply (i.e. my reply was not clear). Second try:

   1. The "calculator" I am thinking of would be a simple program that, once supplied the length and diameter of a log, would churn out the bf. If one doesn't exist, it would be simple enough to write one in a spreadsheet, which I might do one of these days. Such a "calculator" is what I was looking for to pass on to my friend.

   2. Yes, the reply to my original post is indeed a manual method.

   3. Personally, I would go even simpler. I'd draw a circle, and draw out the cross-section showing the cut lines, figure the number of boards and width of each, factoring in kerf and waste from straightening. This is simply because I think better graphically, and such an approach helps me better visualize what I would end up with. Regretfully, I do not find myself in situations where this need arises. Once I took down some trees and had them sawed, and didn't really care about calculating the bf simply because the whole thing was quite a novelty, and fun.

    

3. 
   LeeGrindinger | Jan 22, 2005 12:02am | #7

   Don't worry about coming up with your program. Buy a log tally stick. A log tally stick is similar to a board foot tally stick in that it has a steel hook at one end and a series of numbers running the length. Hook your stick on the log. Read the number as a diameter that pertains to the length. Viola, board feet.No plug either.Lee

4. 
   frederic | Jan 22, 2005 12:09am | #8

   I have no link or computerised version, but I have printed versions of charts that are specificaly what you are asking. I use them when I buy logs.

   Maybe if you tell me the lenght and small end diameter of your logs, I can provide you with the estimated bf on two different charts.

   I'm not at all in the milling business, but this is what I undestood from discussions with the owner of the mill where I bring my logs:

   The numbers given on the charts are estimates. A good mill will tipically give you a bit more than estimated (I would say something like 10%). The smaller the log, the higher the difference, i.e. smaller logs are better deals for a mill (surprising, eh).  This is how the mill makes money: buy a 100 bf log and manage to sell 110 bf of lumber.

   There is certainely someone on the list to tell me if I'm right. Please do so!

   Fred

5. 
   LeeGrindinger | Jan 22, 2005 01:34am | #10

   Here's what I'm talking about, it's a log tally stick... http://store1.yimg.com/I/cspoutdoors_1827_13970428Here's the link to a brief sales explanation and a place to buy one if you want to. http://shop.store.yahoo.com/cspoutdoors/conclevlogru.htmlLee

2. 
   JonE | Jan 22, 2005 01:31am | #9

   http://www.forestryforum.com/calcs/sawlogbf.htm

   If for some reason that link doesn't work, go to http://www.forestryforum.com, log in as a guest, and the left hand side of any of the forum pages will take you to a calculators link that has many different features - board volume, log volume, value, weight, spacing, etc.  Some will confuse you. 

   Common practice is measure small end of log inside bark, rounding down, log length rounding down to nearest foot, and use Doyle scale.  For example, a 12" dia. log x 12' long should get you 48 board feet.  That's usually assuming a conventional circle mill cut.  If you use a bandmill and are really careful about waste, you can probably get 125% to 150% of that estimate per log.

    

    

1. 
   alfie | Jan 22, 2005 02:40am | #13

   Thanks for all the info folks. The link supplied by Jon is the kind of thing I was looking for, and have passed it on.

   It is unlikley I'll be doing any logging, so I'll hold off on buying the tally stick. Besides, if I were ever to have logs sawn, I'd saw for cut and what I get is what I get. Around where I live, the economics of buying logs, transporting them to a mill, sawing them, transporting the boards back are such that it would be simpler to buy lumber. That said, someday I might have a round of taking down some trees in our yard and have them sawn, even though there is nothing spectacular about the species I'll be taking down. Still, the bragging rights that go with making something from those boards, and being able to say "that table grew in my yard" are worth something.

3. 
   frenchy | Jan 22, 2005 01:54am | #11

   the classic mistake is to measure the "wrong" end of the log. remember to use the small end and not the large end.

     In addition you need to "read" the log,  are there spots that won't yield good wood?  Rot, metal, shake, or reaction wood, for example?  In addition what grade of wood are you expecting from a tree?  Mill run means exactly as the wood comes off the log and will yield the most wood, however if you are going for grade you often sacrafice some cuts to get a better grade yield out of others..

   deciding which way to go really affects the profit in a log and can dramatically affect the yield..

4. 
   lwj2 | Jan 22, 2005 02:24am | #12

   Down, dirty and fast:

   Volume of a cylinder in feet, divide by 12, multiply by 0.75.

   Measure the top, not the butt, for cylinder calculation.

   Variances: hidden damage.

   Calc works for flat-sawn only, damfino how to do quarter-sawn.

   Leon Jester