Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
But it was a real 2 x 4 before it was planed to get what is considered
straight. I buy wood at a full 1" thick, but have to plane it down to
3/4" to make it usable. I know this up front and expect to do it. It
was cut a true 1" at the sawmill though.


I thought the size diff was due to shrinkage as the wood dried. Not true?

Partly true. It will shrink a bit as it dries, but then it is planed to a
consistent size. It may be possible that some 2 x 4 can be made to 1 5/8 or
1 11/6, but then that would drive everyone crazy.

Actually, like the paint or coffee, they did used to be...

Somewhere along about in the 60s, they went to the "standard" sub-1/2"
dimensions. I figured at the time it was a combination of making a
convienient standard at the "even" fraction plus better sawmill control
to shave a few extra tuba-ex's from a log, just like getting a few extra
sheets of ply by going from full dimension to sub-32'nds--over enough
sheets, that extra 32-nd of material adds up to quite a bit of raw
material saved.