Will a Lumber person please explain what is happening and why?

[Robert W]

You go to the Lumber store to pick up some 2x4s. And after you get back to the job, you see something is changing. Why is this happening?

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

You go to the Lumber store to pick up some 2x4s. And after you get back to the job, you see something is changing. Why is this happening?

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[Yarddog]

Inflation!

 

[Rambunctious]

Corners need to be rounded because the young trees produce splintering timber so they round the corners a bit and milling 2x4's or any other beam cuts down the size we end up with from modern day mills....

 

[Rawley]

You go to the Lumber store to pick up some 2x4s. And after you get back to the job, you see something is changing. Why is this happening?

Manufacturing processes and mostly - profit.

 

[1srelluc]

My dad built a big outbuilding/garage out of full-measure oak 2 X 4s milled from oaks on his mountain property. Even the siding was made of tongue and grooved 3/4" X 8" X 10' oak planking....Talk about solid!

The lumber was quite the work-out to handle too.

 

[The Duke]

My dad built a big outbuilding/garage out of full-measure oak 2 X 4s milled from oaks on his mountain property. Even the siding was made of tongue and grooved 3/4" X 8" X 10' oak planking....Talk about solid!

The lumber was quite the work-out to handle too.

Did he rent a portable mill?

 

[Robert W]

My dad built a big outbuilding/garage out of full-measure oak 2 X 4s milled from oaks on his mountain property. Even the siding was made of tongue and grooved 3/4" X 8" X 10' oak planking....Talk about solid!

The lumber was quite the work-out to handle too.

I spent 9 years working in heavy construction when I finished college. We would run into the heavier lumber on the jobs where the old timers had constructed things like Bridges. Your story reminded me that I had a school chum whose dad owned a lumber mill rig in the Redwoods of CA. His son would at times help his dad. I would not think that today due to the Democrats of CA one could make a a living as my friends dad did in the 40s and 50s in CA

 

[Woodznutz]

Building codes demand that houses blow away in a strong wind, or go up in flames so fast you can't escape.

 

[Donald H]

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There haven't been any changes. You're showing rough lumber and planed lumber.
Neither of which appear to be correctly proportioned.

More interesting are the photos you've included too.

 

[1srelluc]

Did he rent a portable mill?

No, he was a childhood friends with the brothers that cut the timber on the land and they had their own mill. He paid them in timber to have it done, dried, and delivered.

Damn those guys were funny, they could tell hunting/fishing stories in hunt camp that would have you rolling around laughing. Their like will never be seen again.

 

[Robert W]

No, he was a childhood friends with the brothers that cut the timber on the land and they had their own mill. He paid them in timber to have it done, dried, and delivered.

Damn those guys were funny, they could tell hunting/fishing stories in hunt camp that would have you rolling around laughing. Their like will never be seen again.

I have said previously I spent 9 years in Construction work after finishing college.
Your story reminded me of a guy I worked with called Sam Countryman. Sam had us laughing so hard at his stories I never forgot him at all. I got out of construction so was not aware when Sam died. But I was very young and he was close to retiring.

Sam told us this story about his dog.

Sam said one day he wanted to fish on the stream on his property. So he went to his closet as his dog watched him and he pulled out his best fishing pole. The dog bolted out of the house. Sam cleaned his rig and stepped outside to dig up some fishing worms. As he got to where they were, he said his dog was already there with a bucket and digging for fish worms frantically.

We were so amused.

 

[petro]

The standard measurement for a 2×4 is now 1 1/2"×3 1/2"

Two-by-fours are not actually 2-by-4—here’s why

Turns out, numbers actually do lie. Two-by-fours are actually 1.5-by-3.5s.

www.popsci.com

Size standards, maximum moisture content, and nomenclature were agreed upon only as recently as 1964. The nominal 2×4 thus became the actual 1½ x 3½, imperceptibly, a fraction of an inch at a time.

 

[Donald H]

The standard measurement for a 2×4 is now 1 1/2"×3 1/2"

Two-by-fours are not actually 2-by-4—here’s why

Turns out, numbers actually do lie. Two-by-fours are actually 1.5-by-3.5s.

www.popsci.com

Size standards, maximum moisture content, and nomenclature were agreed upon only as recently as 1964. The nominal 2×4 thus became the actual 1½ x 3½, imperceptibly, a fraction of an inch at a time.

Mostly correct. There was a slight change in the dimensions of planed lumber between wet and dry so that the wet would shrink to match the dried.

Sometime in the late 60's?

Otherwise there are too many clowns who don't understand rough lumber dimensions and so believe it's a plot to cheat people.

 

[Robert W]

Mostly correct. There was a slight change in the dimensions of planed lumber between wet and dry so that the wet would shrink to match the dried.

Sometime in the late 60's?

Otherwise there are too many clowns who don't understand rough lumber dimensions and so believe it's a plot to cheat people.

^^^^only person to bring up cheating.