Wood measurements

[dnoyeB]

I bought some 3/4" plywood fir for a shelf in my cabinet. I was looking for something to high the end bands. The store had lost of pine that looked abuot right but it was 1/2". So I kept going in circles between isles trying to find the 3/4" pine to put on the end of this plywood. After about an hour I decided to just grap the piece that looked right.

Turns out the 1/2" solid wood is the same thickness as the 3/4" plywood. This wouldn't be the first odd measurement I have found like 3/4 is really 5/8... What am I missing here?

[Josh]

It sounds to me like the 1/2" wood was mislabeled.

If you're looking for a piece of wood 3/4" thick, you should be buying

1" stock (sometimes called 4/4). They plane off exactly 1/4", leaving you with 3/4".

Josh

[tom]

Josh may be right about the mislabel. But ply's funny like that. Depending on where it's from (You never said where you purchased it, but it sounded like the borg), 3/4 is more like 23/32nds, 1/2 is around

15/32nds (or 12 mm, now I'm getting confused). Bring a tape measure in with you the next time. You'll be surprised at the variables, even from sheet to sheet, sometimes. Tom

[Phisherman]

It is helpful to carry a measuring tape when shopping for lumber. Don't believe the tag.

[Lee Michaels]

It is also useful to carry calipers in your pocket. This will give you a more accurate measurement of thickness.

[Bugs]

Order edge banding from Woodworkers Supply, etc. Sand the edges nicely and iron it on. It stands up surprisingly well and is easy to repair. Bugs

[David]

I'll add: carry your FRACTIONAL calipers to the store. It's kinda a PITA to convert .237 to 32nds while shopping. :)

Dave

[dnoyeB]

Maybe that was it. I bought 1" wood and it matched the 3/4 plywood. Just dont know why it was labelled like that. I got it mostly at lowes.

[Doug Miller]

That's because wood is sold by its nominal dimensions, i.e. the dimensions before drying and surface-planing. If you buy 1-inch (four-quarter) rough-sawn lumber, you'll get lumber that is actually one inch thick, or pretty close to it. But when you're buying lumber that's already been surface-planed, nominal one-inch lumber has been planed down to a thickness of 3/4". The actual dimensions of a one-by-two are 3/4 by 1-1/2, a two-by-four is 1-1/2 by 3-1/2, and so on.