Can anyone point me to a website that would have a list of common lumber sizes? I'm thinking about making a basic woodworking bench and I'd like to compare common lumber sizes to various plans.
Being a newbie, whenever I get to my local lumber yard I get overwhelmed by all the choices so tough to figure out what I want in advance. And when I try to figure in the size difference between nominal and actual sizes my head spins!
thanks in advance
DAGS on "dimensional lumber"
Allen
That would work for construction lumber. Unless purchased at "Borg" type stores hardwood lumber varies in size to give maximum yield for the log.
with hardwood lumber when milled must be cut to at least size said in the rough green, after shrinkage from drying and surface planing may be next nominal size down. example a 6" wide piece may end up at 5 1/4 but still be called a 6" ross
How Basic? My workbenches are made out of 2x6 frame "ladders" covered by plywood. The "steps" are 1 ft apart. You could stand up the frame and use it as a ladder. 8' long, 24" wide
I've drilled 3/4' holes at regular intervals all along the top. They are drilled through the plywood down into the side edge of the 2x6 steps. The holes drilled right through the 2x6 and are roughly 6 in in depth.
I have a vice on the end.
Basically looks like this.
Solid as anything. Will outlast me.
LdB
It isn't that hard... The sizes are nominal (usually as cut from the log). What you buy is lumber which has been planed. Planing will remove 1/2 inch in width and about 1/4 inch in thickness. Thus, what you get when you buy a 2 by 4 is a piece of lumber that is 1 1/2 by 3 1/2 and so forth.
Once upon a time, all construction lumber was rough (not surfaced). The current (nominal) sizes are the same as those used so long ago for rough lumber.
Jim
"NOSPAM" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:
Most things go in increments of 2. 2x4, 2x6, 2x8, 2x10, 2x12 are your common construction sizes, with lengths of 8', 10', 12', 14', and 16' being common at most yards. Note the lack of dimensional note on the 2x sizes. It may just be laziness, but it also reminds us that the 2x4 isn't 2"x4". (Use of the x instead of the multiplication "cross", well, that's just laziness.)
For 2x lumber, figure on losing 1/2" from the 2" side, and 3/4" from the other side. For 1x lumber, figure on losing 1/4" from the 1" side, and
3/4" from the other side. (A 1x4 is like a 2x4 cut in half. In fact, if you've only got a HD nearby, buy their 2x4s and cut them in half... their 1x4s are expensive!)If you're doing something where the proper fit of pieces is important (dados and rabbets), never go by what the wood "should" be. Always MEASURE it. I cut 1/2" dados for 9mm plywood a few projects ago...
Puckdropper
Buy your total width plus 15% in the length required. That way your head won't spin when you discover that regardless nominal, or even actual size, some lumber isn't straight and will have to be reduced in dimension to make it so.
Repeating what other have said but adding a bit:
"one-by" = 3/4" "Two-by" = 1.5"
4 = 3.5" 6 = 5.5" Pay attention now... 8= 7.25" 10 = 9.25" 12 = 11.25"Lengths are generally true measure with the notable exception that i have seen 2x4's "pre-cut" to 93" so that can put a sill and plate on it to create an 8' wall.
If you are building a bench, consider getting 8, 10 or 12-by stock and ripping it to the size that you need. The larger sizes tend to be straighter and more clear of knots. Also, the geometry of cutting a rectangular cross section, from a round tree requires that larger pieces are cut from the center of the tree, therefore yeilding a higher percentage of quartersawn stock.
-Steve
Common ain't common.
In 1959 we bought a house that was built in the 1920's. 2 X 4's were 1
3/4 X 3 3/4. When we bought lunber to do remodeling in the early 60's, 2 X 4's were 1 5/8 X 3 5/8. By 1970, I think they were 1 9/16 X 3 9/16. Now, of course, they are 1 1/2 X 3 1/2. I think the mfrs are just squeezing more boards from a given tree. Have you tried to by 1/2" plywood lately? How thick is yours? Mine is 7/16. Oh yeh, and the plies don't stick together any more.BTW, dimension lumber up to 2 X 6 does seem to follow the rule that you take 1/2" off each "rough" dimension. ie: 2 X 4 = 1 1/2 X 3 1/2. But, 2 X 8 and beyond, you take 3/4 off the big dimension. ie: 2 X 8 =
1 1/2 X 7 1/4.Pete Stanaitis
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NOSPAM wrote:
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