lumber dimensions

[Jstpssng]

2x4 was the rough sawn dimension before it went through the planer. Modern mill tolerances are much tighter, so the planer typically only takes off about 1/8", but a smooth 2x4 has always been 1-1/2" by 3-1/2". Maybe a little bigger if the wood is green, but dry wood will shrink to those dimensions.

Did you know that Western Red Cedar, and some other woods, are not dimensionally stable over length? It's why cedar siding always has the gap at the end of each board. Butt them tight and they will buckle. It's also why nobody builds stud walls or beams out of cedar.

The original 2x4 was before it was sawn with a 1/4 inch saw kerf.

 

[MoKelly]

This is what happens in a Male dominated business world. All along, men were saying 9" but it was really 6".

Hey! We were in the pool.

MoKelly

 

[ruffdog]

That was a good episode of Seinfeld.

 

[MoKelly]

That was a good episode of Seinfeld.

Yep - obviously made an impression on me!

MoKelly

 

[buck12]

The good part is once the Hardi installed it is a very good product. My shop built in 2008 is Hardi. Paint really adheres to Hardi. I liked the Hardi so much we did our entire cabin with Hardi. We had vinyl on the back of our first house, never again.

 

[grsthegreat]

Vinyl siding sucks. Cracks easily especially if kids are around it. Needs constant pressure washing or it starts to grow mold.

 

[not2old]

And I recently discovered that 1x8 smart trim is only 7 1/4" wide when I prepared it for around my shop overhead door.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

The original 2x4 was before it was sawn with a 1/4 inch saw kerf.

Yeah, I built a lot of buildings with rough sawn lumber, in the days before sawmills used a band saw. Dimensions were variable. The slivers were a nuisance. Calluses were handy things, because mostly the sliver didn't reach the meat.

 

[BravoXray]

Back in the late '50s, my father built a new house using lumber cleared from a couple of wooded areas he had done for farmers. Took it to a sawmill in Decatur, MI and had it cut up into dimension lumber. They were real 2X4s for the wall studs and 2X12s for floor joists, and a couple of 10X10s for basement beams. It was almost a red oak with a little white oak. After a few years, if you wanted to nail anything to a wall stud, you better drill a pilot hole first.
I never heard a creak or groan in that house, it was a solid as a rock.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Back in the late '50s, my father built a new house using lumber cleared from a couple of wooded areas he had done for farmers. Took it to a sawmill in Decatur, MI and had it cut up into dimension lumber. They were real 2X4s for the wall studs and 2X12s for floor joists, and a couple of 10X10s for basement beams. It was almost a red oak with a little white oak. After a few years, if you wanted to nail anything to a wall stud, you better drill a pilot hole first.
I never heard a creak or groan in that house, it was a solid as a rock.

Oak is stiff stuff. Dry oak has a high modulus of elasticity. The down side, as you note, it's hard to work with. Douglas fir is as strong, but bouncier.