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Stevie Hicks
07-26-2008, 1:08 PM
Does anyone know when a 2x4 started being made at 1 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches?

Butch Edwards
07-26-2008, 1:29 PM
...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
07-26-2008, 1:35 PM
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
07-26-2008, 7:11 PM
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
07-27-2008, 2:30 PM
2x4's [pine] used to be 1 5/8 x 3 1/2 about 20 years ago.

Ted Shrader
07-27-2008, 3:45 PM
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
07-27-2008, 3:52 PM
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.:eek:

Time sure flies by