2Dragons Loc: The Back of Beyond

We haven't had any problem with twisting and the only problem we had with checking was on the 8"X8" supports we used. We were careful to flip boards into new piles if we weren't going to use them right away so that they would dry uniformly without warping. Those buildings have been up since 1996 and are just as tight as when newly constructed.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

Not to mention rough cut isn’t graded. It’s all number one until kiln dried, planed and graded. Not everything is a conspiracy to take your money. Capitalism operates on the theory that competition keeps the price low because all else being equal consumers will go with the lower price. If prices are the same they’ll go with the best quality. You do have to consider convenience, customer service and a myriad of other factors. Even tax rates ie; people in Washington State border towns the consumers take advantage of no sales tax Oregon for many purchases. In theory you are supposed to pay the difference to Washington but nobody does, human beings being human.

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

It depends where the lumber is cut/made. If it is foreign, it is the dimensions you state but if it is made in America 1/2 in will be 1/2 inch. At least that is the last I CHECKED. But if you are making something and cut a 3/4 dado the smaller board will cause you a problem and the router bits come in 3/4 inch unless you want to special buy the smaller size.
PLYWOOD does not shrink. The 2x4 dimension is before it is cut and the difference is the blade take off.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

Another example of your Ice Cream dilemma! Maybe like Friendlies there is a wood company that still will give you the whole half gallon! !

Smudgey Loc: Ohio, Calif, Now Arizona

It would seem only fair then that we apply the same principle to payment for the lumber .75 cents would equal $1.00 and $1.50 would be the same as $2.00 and so on. Wonder if Home Depot would go for that.

crushr13 Loc: Sacramento, CA

No, this reduction in size is very confusing to beginners, unless they know about it going in. A few years back, I had to build a stand for the house for my bearded dragon, so he could be in the livingroom and be seen by everyone. When I went to the lumberyard to buy the materials for the stand I designed off the top of my head, I thought it would be perfect. When I got there and looked at the wood I was going to have cut to size, I thought it looked a bit small. So, I found a measuring tape, and found the size discrepancies mentioned in this post. I had to go home, and redesign everything on my shopping list, so I would get the right stuff for it to fit together properly, and get it cut correctly, as I have no saws but a handsaw, which would not do the job in an untrained hand like mine. By doing that reconfiguration, it worked out very well, and is very stable. I don't have a picture, but it still stands in my livingroom doing something other than its original purpose. But knowing the size is different than advertised is critical.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

4/4 S2S is 13/16 according to NHLA rules no matter where you get it. 3/4 Plywood is 23/32. There are router bits commonly available for dados where plywood is used to fill the dado cavity. The foreign plywood is metric sized but Canadian plywood is the same as US equivalent since it is commonly imported. Shrinkage in solid wood boards is in width but so little in thickness as to be a non issue. The nominal vs actual size in plywood is a product of the sanding process. The reason we use plywood is because of its dimensional stability and the faces can be exotic wood with less expensive common wood cores.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

Since I teach in a world of metric, thanks for supporting the idea.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Of course that is exactly what we do. The purchasing power of your money fluctuates WAY more than the size of 2x4's and plywood. It seems you need to study up a bit on standard lumber sizes as well econ101.