Can you make it bigger? I don’t want to have to get my reading glasses, they’re in the other room

LMAO

Try not to suck any dicks on the way to the parking lot!

Worse still, the pattern does not continue like one would expect.

• Nominal: 2x4 – Actual: 1.5" x 3.5"
• Nominal: 2x6 – Actual: 1.5" x 5.5"
• Nominal: 2x8 – Actual: 1.5" x 7.25"
• Nominal: 2x10 – Actual: 1.5" x 9.25"
• Nominal: 2x12 – Actual: 1.5" x 11.25"

There’s just an arbitrary point where they decided to take an extra 1/4" bite out of it. I’m not sure whether that’s more of an effect of shrinkage from kiln drying being proportional to the original length or an effect of industry practice to mill smaller boards to eke out more cuts per tree.

And for the record, yes, I am aware the discrepancy is not entirely explained by shrinkage. They do a planing step after drying. But the shrinkage is a not insignificant part of it. They have to round down to the nearest convenient dimension from wherever the shrinkage stops.

If longer boards shrink more, the finished boards would necessarily have to be smaller. I question whether that’s the effect at play, though, because I believe there was a phase in the industry where that extra quarter inch wasn’t taken off, and they changed their minds about it later.

It’s because the actual cut is 2x4, and the wood shrinks. The typical shrinkage is known and accounted for. It is a treat when a house has an actual 2x though, i.e., it was cut divided by the shrinkage ratio, or cut dry. Related to why framing is done “on center”, i.e., “16 on center”.

Docking