Dimensional lumber is a term used in North America for lumber that is cut to standardized width and depth specified in inches. World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west... Lumber is the name used, generally in North America, for wood that has been cut into boards or other shapes for the purpose of woodworking or construction. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial unit of length. ...

Softwoods

Softwood Dimensional Lumber Sizes

Examples of common sizes are 2x4 (also two-by-four and other variants), 2x6, and 4x4. The length of a board is usually specified separately from the width and depth. It is thus possible to find 2x4s that are four, eight, or twelve feet in length.

In The Americas, two-bys (2x4s, 2x6s, 2x8s, and 2x12s) are common lumber sizes used in modern construction. They are the basic building block for such common structures as balloon-frame or platform-frame housing. Dimensional lumber made from softwood is typically used for construction, while hardwood boards are more commonly used for making cabinets or furniture. The Americas (sometimes referred to as America) is the area including the land mass located between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, generally divided into North America and South America. ... Balloon framing is method of wood construction used primarily in Scandinavia and the United States. ... Platform framing is the common method of constructing the frame for homes and apartment buildings in Canada and the USA. The floors, walls and roof of a framed structure are created by assembling (using nails) consistently-sized framing elements of dimensional lumber (2x4, 2x6, etc. ... Despite being fairly hard, cedar is a softwood Wood from conifers is generally referred to as softwood; the term is also used as an adjective for the trees that produce softwood. ... Beech is a typical temperate zone hardwood The term hardwood designates wood from angiosperm trees. ... Furniture is the collective term for the movable objects which support the human body (seating furniture and beds), provide storage, and hold objects on horizontal surfaces above the ground. ...

The nominal size of a board varies from the actual size of the board. This is due to planing and shrinkage as the board is dried. This results in the final lumber being slightly smaller than the nominal size. Also, if the wood is surfaced when it is green, the initial dimensions are slightly larger (e.g. 1/16" bigger for up to 4" nominal lumber, 1/8" for 5" and 6" nominal lumber, 1/4" bigger for larger sizes). As the wood dries, it shrinks and reaches the specified actual dimension. This article or section should include material from Hand plane. ...

Hardwoods

Sizes for dimensional lumber made from hardwoods varies from the sizes for softwoods. Boards are usually supplied in random widths and lengths of a specified thickness, and sold by the board-foot (144 cubic inches). The board foot is a specialized unit of volume for measuring lumber in the United States. ...

Hardwood lumber is commonly sold in a "quarter" system when referring to thickness. 4/4 (four quarters) refers to a 1 inch thick board, 8/4 (eight quarters) is a 2 inch thick board, etc. This system is not usually used for softwood lumber, although softwood decking is sometimes sold as 5/4 (actually one inch thick).