John Woodgate wrote:

I read in sci.electronics.design that Tim Wescott
wrote (in .
com) about 'Another hopeless text: spot the errors...', on Fri, 10 Sep
2004:

In some states (Oregon included, IIRC), pi _is_ legally equal to three -
- at least for the purposes of calculating the number of board feet in a
log, and most likely as an informed decision to make calculation easier.


It is, AIUI, based on an average diameter and allows for the taper of
the log.

Probably -- I suppose if you measure more toward the butt end of the log
that'll take care of the 0.14159etc.

I used to know a guy who had worked at a company that made estimator
pads for log scalers -- had keys to enter all the parameters, an LCD
screen, microprocessor, the whole nine yards. The first time he went to
check it with a _real_ log scaler this old coot stepped out of the
shack, looked at an entire load of lumber on a truck and said "that's
about X board-feet". Kevin spent half an hour measuring and entering
and came up with the same number.

Progress. Go figure.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com