How much are nice oak butts worth ?

[gensetsteve]

I am going to keep some of the nice bits to one side for a local miller and dice the rest for logs. I have no idea what i am looking for apart from rot obviously.

[Ian Leach]

1 m3 = 27.736074 Hoppus feet

 

1 m3 = 35.31467 Cubic feet

 

1 H ft = 0.03605 Cubic meter

 

Hoppus feet can be measured by the cubic meter and then converted. Alternatively, a Hoppus girth tape can be used for measuring logs. It is calibrated in quarter girth (QG) inches, and the cross-sectional area is approximated by squaring the QG and dividing by 144. A Hoppus foot is about 21% short of a true cubic foot.

[Big J]

The worst thing to have in oak is shake, especially ring shake. This is easily identifiable by looking at the sawn end and if you see any shakes following the growth rings round, you have ring shake. Unless the log is in some way special if more or less renders it useless.

[John Hughes]

I think Hoppus feet is simply quarter of the girth squared times the length.

I believe the Americans use more complicated scales with their Doyle and Scribner .

[Big J]

Ah, OK, fair enough!

 

When estimating the volume of a log from a sawmilling point of view, I tend to just work out the actual volume, and then subtract a percentage based on the individualities of the log. Hoppus measure has it's uses, but relies to a certain degree on a uniform cylinder.

[tommer9]

No it doesnt...that is basically the point of hoppus foot, otherwise we would all be using top diameter, as in softwoods.

The measurement is MQG squared in inches, times the length in feet of the log, divided by 144. Its the fairest way to both the buyer and seller.

[robbo 110]

ive long wondered what a 'hoppus' foot actually is,,,, having looked at the calculations that converts a decent sawlog into 'hoppus'... i still dont quite get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tommer9]

Imagine a circle and a square laid on top of each other. The corners of the square are outside the circle, but the straight edges of the square are inside the circle if you can imagine it. It allows for the buyer to pay less for the slab wood/ waste, yet the seller to be compnsated somewhat for the fact that teh buyer isnt buying every last scrap of wood in the log:

[mendiplogs]

HI TOMMER thats a good way put it mate thanks jon :thumbup:

[wills-mill]

JPH - I'm not sure that it is as simple as that for hoppus. As far as memory serves, the hoppus measurement takes into account that larger logs have less waste in them than smaller pieces, so the value changes. I might be wrong though, and I'm feeling too idle to test my theory by working it out!

 

The theory is that you should be able to get more sawn cubic ft than you have hoppus ft, but it definitely doesn't hold true for logs under 12in quarter girth and it usually doesn't hold true when bark and sapwood have been removed from Oak, especially on flared or even slightly open grown trees. It's fairer on flared butts to take pretend tha you're going to crosscut the timber and then take 2 sets of measurements, even if you are going to mill at full length.

 

If you buy timber that someone has measured up by the cubic metre and then converted to hoppus, then I think you get more logs for your money than if you were to measure up in Hoppus to start with- especially on smaller logs.

 

There's a remark in my set of hoppus tables that British Customs would take the dividing number as 113 not 144, and that this may give a truer reflection of sawn cubic content...

 

It might be time for a practical test!