The FedEx dude just did that. Drove 500' up to the house, tossed a box on the hottop, then sat for several minutes, pulled up 5 feet, then sat for another minute before leaving. Girlfriend text problem?
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Hey, Cal!
Tell us more about your Teeter Table.
Is it similar to an inversion table?
Tell us more about your Teeter Table.
Is it similar to an inversion table?
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I just assumed it was one of those...strap into the boots, rotate to hang.
I always thought that would help my back, but was scared to hang inverted as I don't have an ACL in one leg. Visions of my leg pulling apart at the knee came to mind. No idea how I ran 400 meter hurdles in college without an ACL.. Guess because nobody told me I couldn't.
Prepping to make the rack boxes. Not sure when 1/4 inch became .200 inches, nor 1/2 becoming .450 inches.
Is that like a 2 by 4 being 1.75 by 3.75?? Life is soooooo confusing. My house is from 1850, so a 2 by 4 ACTUALLY IS!!!
In prepping for my retirement, I've been picking up stuff, like a pin guage set from .011 inch to .500 by steps of .001 (minus), reamers both plus and minus (slip fit or press fit), and measuring tools for measuring to .0001 inch accuracy.. and then buy 1/2 inch stuff that's off by 50 thou??? 10 percent, what's goin on!!!
My go to website is now Titan CNC... gotta love it..
John
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JN,
Wood is sold by in theory the green dimensions. So when it dries out it shrinks a bit.
Now as plywood has the plies dried before being glued into sheets one would expect it to be on finished dimensions. However that would mean the folks making the plywood would take the economic loss from the shrinkage.
The other issue would be if one were were running dado cuts to hold pieces then under dimension would work better than over!
Now as the standards are set by the group of manufacturers and not the users… well what would you expect.
Ever measure the diameter of a 1/4” bolt?
As to old houses containing actual 2 x 4s that was before kiln dried lumber and drywall. With wet plaster there was much less need for precision as the wall was formed to fit. So it did not matter if the wall studs were slightly off dimension or even slightly warped. Of course the trees the studs were made from were most likely old growth and more stable than more modern lumber.
If you used even slightly green modern fast grown lumber with drywall, you probably would be re-jointing with spackle for the next few decades.
Wood is sold by in theory the green dimensions. So when it dries out it shrinks a bit.
Now as plywood has the plies dried before being glued into sheets one would expect it to be on finished dimensions. However that would mean the folks making the plywood would take the economic loss from the shrinkage.
The other issue would be if one were were running dado cuts to hold pieces then under dimension would work better than over!
Now as the standards are set by the group of manufacturers and not the users… well what would you expect.
Ever measure the diameter of a 1/4” bolt?
As to old houses containing actual 2 x 4s that was before kiln dried lumber and drywall. With wet plaster there was much less need for precision as the wall was formed to fit. So it did not matter if the wall studs were slightly off dimension or even slightly warped. Of course the trees the studs were made from were most likely old growth and more stable than more modern lumber.
If you used even slightly green modern fast grown lumber with drywall, you probably would be re-jointing with spackle for the next few decades.
You mean, building nuclear warheads? That's nothing, we can do better than that!
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I think John was funning you there Ed, but over this side of the pond the size is the rough cut dimension which then gets planed down so even if it didn't shrink you'd get less.
Bill,
My house also has full size framing pieces. They really did sell dimensioned lumber by actual size quite a bit ago. Old growth wood, stack dried for a year and the finished pieces were good enough. The crappy wood became backing 1/2x1” lath for plaster.
I still have an almost local lumber mill that still does full dimension pieces. Of course the only equipment they have is a saw. It also just has a roof, no side walls, thus no dust collection.
There is the story of how the first stirling cycle (?) engine demonstrated in the U.K. Was designed to burn wood, but as none was available they used coal and melted the engine.
So I expect most of your wood really comes from places like Poland and is fast grown and needs kiln drying. So the rough cut dimension shrinks quite a bit to finished product.
I have recovered wood from old buildings around here that by ring counting started growing 300 years ago or more. The old wood is interesting in that the growth rings are not very uniform in size. Sometimes I believe I can identify Krakatoa, two very tight almost invisible rings.
My house also has full size framing pieces. They really did sell dimensioned lumber by actual size quite a bit ago. Old growth wood, stack dried for a year and the finished pieces were good enough. The crappy wood became backing 1/2x1” lath for plaster.
I still have an almost local lumber mill that still does full dimension pieces. Of course the only equipment they have is a saw. It also just has a roof, no side walls, thus no dust collection.
There is the story of how the first stirling cycle (?) engine demonstrated in the U.K. Was designed to burn wood, but as none was available they used coal and melted the engine.
So I expect most of your wood really comes from places like Poland and is fast grown and needs kiln drying. So the rough cut dimension shrinks quite a bit to finished product.
I have recovered wood from old buildings around here that by ring counting started growing 300 years ago or more. The old wood is interesting in that the growth rings are not very uniform in size. Sometimes I believe I can identify Krakatoa, two very tight almost invisible rings.
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John you are really dating yourself, nominal 2x4 has been 1.5" x 3.5" for as long as I have been cutting them, which is about 50 years.
We too can buy rough sawn 4x2 which is near as 4x2 still.
Aside: on my recent trip to the wilds of california there was a display showing how they cut redwood logs in the field to save hauling them uncut. Impressive and a job I would not want to attempt.
Aside: on my recent trip to the wilds of california there was a display showing how they cut redwood logs in the field to save hauling them uncut. Impressive and a job I would not want to attempt.
Yes, when ever we purchase lumber we are paying for the sawdust and wood chips too and these remain at the mill.
This free material can be used for fuel or to make engineered wood products which are sold to generate still more revenue.
Capitalism at its best, and in this case we literally do get the "short end of the stick".
This free material can be used for fuel or to make engineered wood products which are sold to generate still more revenue.
Capitalism at its best, and in this case we literally do get the "short end of the stick".
You are right. And I forgot it is 1.5 by 3.5, not sure why I said 1.75 by 3.75.
It's always been so in my experience as well. I was just unhappy that I couldn't design the rack boxes until I actually had the plywood in hand to measure with the vernier.
What really bugs me is the use of fast growth. The guy who did my home extension shell didn't bother dipping the ends of all the trim in primer, now I'm in the process of replacing them due to rot at the ends. Not able to get a good source of old, so I've been using azek. Nice that my trim is white.
What drives me nuts is cutting azek on a table saw. I found that I needed a grounding strap between me and the saw to prevent me being tazed, and the dust basically powder coats the saw, amazing static from sliding action of plastic on table and tips through the cut.
John
edit: also, note to self.... I'm going to use west system epoxy to assemble the boxes, fast cure hardener (4 hours). Eventually I will use the staple gun to reinforce the edges, but I have to remember to first route all the edges BEFORE stapling. The 3/8th roundover is for the corner caps that I have, they need it.
And I don't want to chew through the bit on a stupid staple.
After rounding, I'll layup the carbon cloth using the epoxy.
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The dust and static issues are fundamental but it's much easier cutting molding stock on a sliding compound miter saw.
The oldest buildings around here date from 1750. One in particular guarding the rivers is from 1764. Lots of buildings built just after 1865’s civil war by returning veterans. 1884 and 1885 growth rings are almost nonexistent from wood grown here, so those samples are generally post 1900.
Oldest trees still standing are 250-300 years old, but you have to know where to look for them as most trees are second or third growth.
In places like my house, which was built in 1920 from some wood reused from an old barn, there are bits and pieces of 150-200 year old lumber.
The way I know the timbers were reused is from the size and the pockets cut into them to hold rafters that were never in my house.
If I get around to it I will photograph some samples. 1942-1945 also has reduced growth rings from all the air pollution when steel was being made frantically. Trees really do tell a bit of history.
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I went to a track meet in Pittsburg in spring of '74, the sky was black.
At my next visit there in '93 to visit the quench diode manufacturer (Powerex), the sky was blue. What an amazing difference.
John
dendrochronology is fun. There is a slice of a giant Sequioa in the natural history museum that was 1300 years old when felled.
The school the kids go to (well thing 5 and thing 6) was build in 1862. We consider our village fairly modern.
The school the kids go to (well thing 5 and thing 6) was build in 1862. We consider our village fairly modern.