On 11/01/2019 10:31, Robin wrote:
On 11/01/2019 08:52, PeterC wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2019 23:33:35 +0000, Steve Walker wrote:

On 10/01/2019 22:55, alan_m wrote:
On 10/01/2019 21:54, soup wrote:

My favourite is 4 X 2 wood (nominally 4 inches by 2 inches) yet sold
in metre lengths so you get things like :-


Was it ever 2" x 4"?

No. It was 4" x 2"

SteveW

Had a problem when re-roofing a brick-built shed (timbers going/gone and
sheets cracked a bit). The timbers were ~70 years old and 2x3, so
unobtainable nowadays. Combined with the hard mortar that had been
shovelled
in to fill all the gaps, I spent ages with a an SDS chisel getting it
even
enough for a full timber frame and to fit the 'generous' 46x72 mm.
Even as a smallish child I was upset that 2" wood wasn't 2" - what
part of
lying is acceptable in trade descriptions?


As a child I was told it's best to think of it as the _name_ of the
timber.Â* When it's sawn it measures 4x2 so it's called 4x2.Â* By the time
it's sold it's very possibly drier and smaller.Â* If it's planed it's
smaller still.Â* But it's name stays the same.


My 1976-built garage used 8 x 2 timbers and they are still that size,
i.e. a full 2 inches wide, ...

And the timber is far denser and heavier than a new '8 x 2'.