14 SYSTEMS AND UNITS OF MEASUREMENT 



other hand, hardwoods are customarily sawed to thicknesses slightly greater than 

 1 inch to allow surfacing down to full inch thickness, and this practice reduces the 

 superficial yield in board feet as compared to softwood species which are commonly 

 sawed scant. Either practice causes the actual output measured in board feet 

 (§12) to differ from the scaled contents of the logs. The actual dimensions of board 

 which are accepted as inch lumber and other standard thicknesses, and the amount 

 of difference, scanting or extra thickness, permitted, is standardized by trade prac- 

 tice for each region and species. 1 



These differences in sawing affect the over-run of sawed lumber, which for the 

 same log rule would thus be greater for softwoods than for hardwoods. 



21. Round-edged Lumber. Most lumber is square edged in sawing. Close 

 utilization by the box, match, sash and blind, woodenware, furniture and certain 

 other industries has led to the sawing of logs " alive " or through and through into 

 boards from which the waney edges are not removed by squaring. These boards, 

 except when sawed from the middle of the log, have one face narrower than the other 

 and owing to the taper of the log, the faces are not of uniform width throughout 

 their length. As the lumber in such boards is closely utilized, its board-foot contents 

 is computed by measuring the average width of the narrow face. The thickness 

 is considered on the same basis as for square-edged lumber. Lumber of this char- 

 acter is usually cut by portable sawmills and sold direct to factories. The scale 

 at the factory is used to check that at the mill. This prevents taking advantage 

 of the uncertainties of the method. The logging and sawing are paid for on the 

 basis of the mill scale, which scale usually becomes the standard for measuring the 

 contents of the standing timber. 



Round-edged lumber will yield from 10 to 20 per cent more scale than square- 

 edged, the excess being greater, the smaller the logs sawed. For plank 2 inches 

 or more in thickness, a loss is incurred both in utilization and in scaling by reason 

 of the wane, which causes an excessive difference in width of the two faces. This 

 loss is reduced by cutting 1-inch boards from the sides of the log (§ 51). 



Closeness of utilization of the tree and stand is increased by this method of saw- 

 ing. Tops are sometimes taken down to 2 inches and never to greater than 4 inches. 

 Branches which crook only in one plane are used. 



22. Products Made from Bolts and Billets. Bolts are sections of logs still in 

 the round, and less than 8 feet long, i.e., too short to be conveniently measured as 

 logs. Billets are obtained by halving, quartering, or otherwise splitting or sawing 

 bolts lengthwise. Bolts may be split into billets, each of which is intended to pro- 

 duce one finished article, such as a wagon spoke or stave. These are measured by 

 count. Billets of larger size may also be split from bolts. So-called shingle bolts 

 are billets split or sawed from large trees, or blocks from thick slabs. 



Billets are also obtained by sawing bolts, and are then termed flitches, squares, 

 slats, or blocks. Squares are used in turning out round articles, such as shuttles, 

 spools and bobbins. On account of their regular form, squares are sold by count, 

 or by bulk, on standards agreed on, the price being based on either the number or 

 the board-foot contents. They may be sold by stacked cords. Bolts, and split 

 or sawed billets of irregular form, not yet manufactured into squares, are sold by 

 stacked cubic measure except in the case of bolts over 12 inches in diameter and over 

 4 feet long, which may be scaled by a log rule. The width of the stack is determined 

 by the length of the product and may range from 22 inches to 5 feet and over. In 



1 Lumber and its Uses, by R. S. Kellogg, 1914, Radford Architectural Company, 

 Chicago, Illinois. 



