I found an old Versalog slide rule on eBay that I thought would come in handy for estimating lumber volume in log.
but with no directions and only a limited understanding of the foresty industry, the lingo and units of measure I am stumped, can anyone help me with some rudimentary instructions or point me to a resource on the net??
Matt
I fail to see where a slide rule is going to come in handy for figuring log volume. Lumber volume in the log is figured out by a ton of log scales. The one that seems to be fairly accurate is the 1/4" International log rule. Scale the log and it tells you how much lumber you should cut out.
But, a lot will depend on your cutting patterns to come out with an adequate scale. Cut heavy to 2" lumber and your outcome will be different than cutting 1" boards.
Click on the red toolbox and you'll see the calculators we already have developed for figuring log volume.
Do a Google search and you'll find a book on your Versalog from various sources. But, this is useless for scaling logs. Is it because it has the suffix 'log' that made you think so? Before someone makes fun of you, don't buy a 'log'rithmic chart hoping it's for log volumes. ;)
Versalog Manual (http://www.sliderulemuseum.com/Manuals/M34_Post_Versalog_1951.pdf)
I had (and probably still have) a versalog slide rule. Used it in engineering school in the 50's. It was great then but now belongs in a museum. It was great for logarithms and trig calculations but no match for a cheap scientific calculator readily available now.
Dat brings back memories. That Post Versalog was my high school graduation gift from my Engineer father fifty year ago this coming May. Have it in the drawer right here. ;D
SD
Thanks for the manual link. Not that I'm going back to using it anymore, but it was good reading.
thks gents
Darned impulsive eBay buying, should've asked a question or two, nice museum piece tho, maybe I'll find a geeky math whiz who'll take it off my hands,
Matt
save it for those days when the hydro is out and you need a calculator. ;D
curios as to why you felows call electricity hydro? do you have a lot of hydro electric power plants? ??? LeeB
Oh, lets see here in NB...hmmm 7 or 8 on the Saint John River Drainage. ;D Rest is coal, oil and Nuclear.
it's a regional thing I guess. ;D Ontario Hydro was the electrical utility provider here. And yes there are a lot of hydro dams(what we say when it goes out) & generators in this part of the country. :)
I aint sure of the numbers , but over 90 percent here in Québec being hydrolectric, would not surprise me
Here's one for ya. ;D
Churchill Falls (http://www.sosask.ieee.ca/reg/7/millennium/churchill/cf_home.html)
Yeah Leweee, one of our members from the forum was up there and didn't realize what he was looking at. ;)
Sawyerfourtyish hunting Caribou near Labrador City (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=8832.20)
;D I never did see no pics, musta been too cold for the camera, eh? ;D
Matt
Thanks for the reminder. When I saw your question, I got my Post Versalog slide rule out of my desk before I realized your mistake. :D
I haven't used that slide rule for over 35 years. Just save it and someday you can take it on Antiques Roadshow and find out it is worth a lot of money. I think I paid about $75 for mine, new back in about 1966. I think it was in the early 1970's that HP came out with their "scientific calculator" that used Reverse Polish Notation. I believe it cost over $1200 when it first came out. I do not think they sold many until they dropped the price to about $600 and then most companies bought them for employees that needed one. That is what made the slide rule obsolete and I sure wasn't sorry. ;D
I never had a Versa Rule but I have a top of the line K&E slide rule In High School we had a slide rule class. The teacher had a giant slide rule that hung over the black board. About the time I started the class TI came out with the first affordable calculator. By the end of the class it had turned into a calculator class.the next year in engineering school there were still a few diehard geeks that had their slide rule on their belt but everyone had a HP calculator.
you gots to love low tech(slide rule) 8)
no batteries required. :)
Hand calculators came into their own while I was in college. The big controversy was whether they would be allowed to be used on tests. Some felt that it was unfair for the people who didn't have one, since the ones who did could work through the test faster and be more accurate.
My college graduation present was a hand held calculator. They were "big deals" back then. A Texas Instrument, cost around $100 I think. Now the little ones that are given out free for business promotions can do more than that one did.
When I started work, all the other people would come over to my desk and marvel at it. But when they found out you could strap it onto your belt and take it into the woods for doing the math on tree survival counts, plot sampling, etc., they all wanted me to go with them.
Thats funny listening to the history of calculators. Something we all take for granted now. We had calculators in school and were not allowed to utilize them on tests unless we were doing statistics or calculus in High School. Now they have kids in grade 3 playing with them.
I guess the same can be said about computers. I have grown up through the revolution of them. My first computer was a Comadore 64, then went to a 386 with 4 meg of ram. :D
Technology kills me...
This all brings, not so fond memories of Linear Programming in forestry. Writing out all those lines of linear equations and then typing them into a 'DOS Box' with a 286 processor for 3 hours. Took all night to find out that you had a syntax error or that the equations had no solution. Then it was back to proofing and finding the line(s) that didn't work. There was no error trapping to find the exact line. Now the computers could run those equations in a minute or less. 8) The program was Lindo I believe.
Further Developed version of Lindo (http://www.lindo.com/lindof.html)