Since you're going to ignore the aesthetics of infinitely narrow strips anyway ...
Use your dado blade to reduce the entire board to sawdust. Make a
circular form 38.25" in diameter and fill it with glue and the sawdust.
Presto! 100% of the board used and no loss due to kerfs.
If you're willing to go thinner you can even get a larger diameter out of it.

Art


"Jay Pique" wrote in message
...
So I've got one big plank of walnut out of which I'd like to make a
round table. I've determined that since the plank is 12x96 I have
1152 square inches of area, which equates to just over a 38" diameter
table, (ignoring the realities of loss due to saw kerfs and the
aesthetics of infinitely narrow strips.) Now assume that I rip the
plank into 3 strips of 4" - what's the biggest diameter I can get? Is
there any sort of formula I can use to see what my options are?
Thanks.

JP