History of Lumber sizes.

[Stevie Hicks]

Does anyone know when a 2x4 started being made at 1 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches?

[Butch Edwards]

...all I know is that rough cut sawemill lumber is usually 2" x 4"... only Dressed lumber is less, due to loss during milling. that's my guess. I remember when lumberyard 2bys were more than 1.5 x 3.5, but never a full 2 x 4....that was 35 years ago,too

[Jim Creech]

Do a search on History on Lumber sizes. The process really began in the early 1920's and is still somewhat ongoing. Rough Vs Finished, Green Vs Dry, SAE Vs Metric etc.

[Larry James]

I remember reading that 2"x4" lumber used for framing was found to be overkill. The size of 2by lumber was reduced to a "nominal" dimension to save lumber.

Larry

[Steve Clardy]

2x4's [pine] used to be 1 5/8 x 3 1/2 about 20 years ago.

[Ted Shrader]

When in high school and working in a local hometown lumberyard in the early 70's, I remember the sizes changing. Had to make sure that all the same sizes were loaded for deliveries.

Ted

[Steve Clardy]

When in high school and working in a local hometown lumberyard in the early 70's, I remember the sizes changing. Had to make sure that all the same sizes were loaded for deliveries.

Ted

Hmmm. Yea. That's more like 40 years ago.

Time sure flies by