Guess the strength of timber III scores

We have recently brought our “guess the strength” game to BE-ST Fest and two teaching events at NMITE and ENU. Check out your score below!

If you are one of the BE-ST players, don’t be discouraged if you find yourself in the bottom half. We gave the other players an unfair advantage – more explanation below.

NameScore
eager_larch_bison
outstanding_holly_hedgehog
outstanding_lime_otter
Dynamic MOE
2
clever_hazel_ant
eager_larch_wolf
eager_rowan_wolf
famous_willow_bear
wandering_pine_badger
4
beautiful_fir_fox
courageous_elm_woodpecker
eager_holly_adder
important_poplar_woodpecker
thoughtful_chestnut_owl
victorious_juniper_finch
10% chance of score 6 or better from random guesswork
6
brave_beech_squirrel
brave_chestnut_deer
curious_maple_hedgehog
curious_rowan_otter
determined_fir_owl
famous_ash_bat
handsome_rowan_fox
magnificent_elm_deer
victorious_fir_bear
8
amazing_willow_fox
charming_poplar_ant
determined_rowan_badger
gifted_oak_wolf
magnificent_holly_elk
outstanding_birch_elk
10
proud_elm_otter11
curious_holly_woodpecker
glorious_lime_owl
victorious_cedar_bison
victorious_chestnut_adder
victorious_rowan_wolf
Growth ring width
Expected score from random guesswork
12
cheerful_cherry_ant
lucky_birch_woodpecker
powerful_pine_deer
witty_cherry_adder
14
handsome_oak_badger
Density
16
*The lower the score the better. Points are given as a distance between the guessed rank and the actual rank of a piece. A perfect score would be 0.

As you see, three participants share the top position with our measurement of dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOE). We measured MOE with the MTG Timber Grader, a machine that hits the timber with a hammer and records the resulting vibration. From acoustic velocity and the specimen density (which is known from mass and dimensions) it calculates the dynamic MOE, which is a measure for stiffness. Stiffness is moderately-well correlated to bending strength (in softwoods), which is why we can use this non-destructive technique in timber grading. In the student workshops we measured the MOE and mass of the timbers, which is why participants in these workshops had an unfair advantage over the BE-ST FEST participants. But one out of three scores on top of the list is actually from a BE-ST FEST candidate, so our real winner here is outstanding_lime_otter (even though they listed “Zane” twice)!

Density was, again, a very poor predictor for strength. In fact, it was negatively correlated in this set of timbers by pure chance. Growth ring width also yielded a poor prediction this time, which is not surprising either.

Overall, participants could identify the worst pieces quite well and were also mostly in agreement about the better ones. And the judgements made at the BE-ST FEST look very similar to the overall rankings! In many cases this is not surprising, as the pieces that looked crappy also turned out to be crappy in this set. The opinion about “Xanti” changed most between the workshops – this piece didn’t have many knots or other defects, but the dynamic MOE measurement was quite low. It failed at 3.23 kN, making it the 3rd weakest piece.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply