Why is a 2x4 called a 2x4?
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The wood should be roughly 2 inches thick by 4 inches wide.
2 inches thick by 4 inches wide. And it is usually not exact. Might be 1 7/8 by 3 7/8
in regards to what else should it be called
why is a lion called a lion, why is a bird called a bird,
what is a car called a car.
shall i go on?
In the early days of production building, in the 1800's. Lumber was bought and installed in its rough cut state and those boards actually measured the what are now nominal dimensions. As workers decided that getting a lot of slivers from rough sawn lumber was not a lot of fun, they started demanding suppliers smooth the faces and round the corners of the lumber and so a 2 X 4 now measured about 1/4 inch short due to shaping and smoothing. Then better quality and better inspection of lumber by associations and mills reduced the size further because the same strength was now achieved by smaller lumber.
look at it. It is 2" thick and 4" long. Similiarly a 4x4 is a square 4 by 4 post. The length of the piece of wood varies.
Back in the day when there was plenty of trees, lumber sizes were true 2" x 4" , 2" x 6" , ect. these days a 2x4 is 1 5/8 "x 3 1/2"
hope this helps Mike
I don't know, because it's not really that close to 2 inches by 4 inches. Maybe it used to be and that's why they called it that.
Because a ROUGH CUT 2" X 4" board is used to make a 2x4 board. after it is planed down, a 2x4 board actually measures 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". in other words, a rough cut board is planed down 1/4" on each side. it starts out as and actually 2" x 4" board.
Way back "in the day" your local Sawyer would actually cut a 2 x 4 as a 2 inch by 4 inch measurement. Over the years that 2 x 4 measurement has decreased by about a 1/4" both ways.
We actually call them a 4x2.
It is the nominal size when it is rough sawn, and it is then reduced when it is gauged
a 2 x 4 is called that because at the mill where it was made that is the size of board they started with and then during the process of plaining, etc it is actually a little bit less than 2 x 4 when you purchase it.
because it was years ago, now its simply 3.5 X 1.5 go figure
As others have said, 2x4's were once actually 2"x4" in cross-section. But unlike what others have said, it's not a matter of a 2x4 rough board being milled down to the finished board. If you actually thought about it, you'd realize that's silly. In cross-section, a modern 2x4 is only 65% as large as a true 2x4. Do you really think the mill is throwing away 35% of every stud just to make it smooth?
The real reason for the downsizing of modern framing lumber is profit and modern stress analysis testing. Testing showed that a 1.5x3.5 was strong enough to do the job. Reducing the actual size of the lumber lets a mill increase their yield 35%, which in turn means more profit, as well as helping to control costs on a rapidly dwindling resource.
As for the tale about splinters in the 1800's-- I've come across full dimensional lumber in houses that were built in the 1950's. So the timing of that story is off by at least half a century.
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