Doomed as a nation
- Thread starter Borzak
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jooka
marco esquandolas
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TheBeagle
JunkiesNetwork Donor
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Don't forget about every joist hanger and 2x4 bracket in existence is manufactured to fit 1.5 x 3.5, 1.5 x 7.5, etc. as well. This isn't any kind of conspiracy or controversy.
And ya, if you're a man, you should be a little embarrassed for not knowing. Just like you should be mildly embarrassed as a man if you've never taken a shot of whiskey, caught a fish, grilled a steak, or thrown a football.
And ya, if you're a man, you should be a little embarrassed for not knowing. Just like you should be mildly embarrassed as a man if you've never taken a shot of whiskey, caught a fish, grilled a steak, or thrown a football.
Lejina
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
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Everyone who ever bothered to put a measuring tape to a 2x4 noticed, which means everyone who ever built anything did.
Chukzombi
Millie's Staff Member
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did all those things by the age of 13, cept caught a fish, still havent caught one, though its no surprise as i have never gone fishing in my life.
Sledge
Trakanon Raider
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Agreed, I've always thought it was common knowledge. I was probably told this about 2x4's when I was about 12 yrs old.
Having said that, I own a 100yr old home and the old 2" x 4" boards in it aren't just correct dimensions, but ridiculously strong. Some of the ones today could be broken over your knee. The good wood from 100 yrs ago could be used to lift a truck.
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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My last house still had non milled dimensional lumber. Could still smell the turpentine smell on the studs in a 100 year old house. Gotta love longleaf.
What I'm hearing here is that I bought a lot of lumber at Lowe's over the last few months and I live in California...
I kid, I kid. I wouldn't feel bad for not knowing this. If you've never built anything, why would you? I figured it out when I hauled home a bunch of scrap wood from some neighbors trash pile up the street and tried to build something. Measured it, wasn't 2"x4", realized something was odd, went and looked it up in a book, done.
I kid, I kid. I wouldn't feel bad for not knowing this. If you've never built anything, why would you? I figured it out when I hauled home a bunch of scrap wood from some neighbors trash pile up the street and tried to build something. Measured it, wasn't 2"x4", realized something was odd, went and looked it up in a book, done.
It is less than 2x4 so you can put drywall or plywood on either side of it and still most likely meet 2x4 specifications is what I was told growing up in construction. They were invented in the 1800's and used to be 2" x 4" but they then switched to that before cutting, like your burger weight. Depending on the wetness of the board and the weather in your area etc they will be of varying sizes when they are done cutting.
European ones are measure in MM and they aren't exact either, IIRC they were advertised as 50mm x 100mm when I was in Germany but in fact were smaller, like 40 x 90 or less.
If you didn't know that a 2x4 wasn't really 2x4 I have to agree with Tuco you are not a man.
European ones are measure in MM and they aren't exact either, IIRC they were advertised as 50mm x 100mm when I was in Germany but in fact were smaller, like 40 x 90 or less.
If you didn't know that a 2x4 wasn't really 2x4 I have to agree with Tuco you are not a man.
Palum
what Suineg set it to
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This. The entire industry is based around those dimensions. Framing nails, house blueprints, drywall sizing... it's all made to fit together based upon nominal 1.5x3.5 measurements for 2x4s.
I don't see how they can cite Lowe's as a retailer but ignore the rest of the industry.
Lithose
Buzzfeed Editor
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I agree, judge is a retard. It's named that way because you ARE actually getting 2"X4" of wood, it's dimensions have just shrunk since it's beendried. Someone should have put a small cup of water on the judges desk and said "we're willing to offer this to everyone who feels cheated...since this is what they actually were cheated out of."
Edit: I will admit though, I had no idea about this until I was 17 and had to help my father put in fence posts. He let me build the gate, and measuring it out I quickly said "Dad, you bought the wrong wood..." He ran over, concerned but then his look was...scathing. He took this big deep sigh and said "that's how it all comes. I should have let you help me rebuild the bathroom a couple years ago...."
However, what I'm willing to bet is that this has dick all to do with the "people" not understanding; and instead a bunch of departments were going to lose funding--so they went to weights and measures department for a list of easy marks they could potentially get for some quick cash. Lowe's probably fought them, and they wanted to teach Lowe's a lesson about how "off the book" Taxes really work--and they got a very friendly judge. If you've ever owned a business in a cash strapped city; you know to just pay the fines, even if they are absurd, because of shit like this. It's just a hidden bureaucratic tax.
Edit: I will admit though, I had no idea about this until I was 17 and had to help my father put in fence posts. He let me build the gate, and measuring it out I quickly said "Dad, you bought the wrong wood..." He ran over, concerned but then his look was...scathing. He took this big deep sigh and said "that's how it all comes. I should have let you help me rebuild the bathroom a couple years ago...."
However, what I'm willing to bet is that this has dick all to do with the "people" not understanding; and instead a bunch of departments were going to lose funding--so they went to weights and measures department for a list of easy marks they could potentially get for some quick cash. Lowe's probably fought them, and they wanted to teach Lowe's a lesson about how "off the book" Taxes really work--and they got a very friendly judge. If you've ever owned a business in a cash strapped city; you know to just pay the fines, even if they are absurd, because of shit like this. It's just a hidden bureaucratic tax.
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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There are standards for how small a 2x4 can be at a given moisture content, I'm not sure if this entered in here or not. But a 2x4 isn't 2"x4" at any period now even before stuck in the kiln or allowed to air dry.
I guess I'm probably the only person in the world who went to college to get a Forest Management / Wildlife Management degree as a hobby and to protect my own interst in land I own. Back when I went thru forestry school we still had a big portion of it dedicated to mill practices and that entire side of the industry.
I guess I'm probably the only person in the world who went to college to get a Forest Management / Wildlife Management degree as a hobby and to protect my own interst in land I own. Back when I went thru forestry school we still had a big portion of it dedicated to mill practices and that entire side of the industry.
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I was lucky. I did own a business. Never really had that much issue, but basically our entire job was to keep the largest employer in the state running and happy so we really never got much pushback.
Lithose
Buzzfeed Editor
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Really? That's interesting. I always just assumed it worked like hamburgers, hah. I know about 100 years ago, somehow the standards got set in place nationally and that is where the milling shrink happened. I just always chalked it up to them sanding out impurities (Or cutting?) and baking out the water.
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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Originally 2x4 were to 2" x 4" and were left rough. Then there was a move right around WWII to a milled finish (which is the smooth finish you see now on dimensional lumber). They took a standard 2x4 and milled it on all 4 sides. That's why you see it referred to as S4S. Surface 4 sides, you can get hardwood stuff in S2S, surfaced 2 sides. So you lost a 1/4" give or take per side.
Now days depending on the mill it's possible to cut and mill at the same time, tho this is not a standard or even the majority. A lot of lumber is still milled the old fasioned way on giant circular saws and then milled on all 4 sides.
Most dimensional lumber now is klin dried and pushed in that afternoon and left overnight or 24 hours depending on the mill etc...I don't know of any that sell dimensional lumber that has been air dried. I think the standard is around 13% moisture content but I'm not sure on that.
If you really want your mind blown, plywood and the individual plies when cut to length is normally cut as it's moving very fast and the blade of the saw goes at angle and it comes out pretty square when done. Depends on the type of plywood etc..Then it's stacked in a giant press several stories high and they press it and heat it at the same time to cure the glue. Then they trim it to final size.
It's actually pretty interesting to watch the process and how fast it goes. I did flunk a test once when the question was to draw out a flow chart for the process of a new mill we had visited. It had just reopened after a major multi million refit to make it the most advanced and computer controlled etc...They still had a few bugs in it. They had a mexican with a chainsaw cutting boards that got stuck. I put him on my flow chart and said he was the key to the entire process for this fortune 500 company. Prof was not amused. I think I might have even labeled him as "illegal with a chainsaw".
zombiewizardhawk
Potato del Grande
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Sounds like the issue with cooked foods (burger weights, steak weights etc.) finally worked it's way to another industry! Yay America (really i'm just jealous because I wish I could find some kind of super stupid lawsuit that would get me rich but inspiration hasn't stricken me yet).
