Nov 9, 2010

I was just talking with Diogenes and...

he told me that there is no hope for honesty in the nation until a two-by-four measures two inches by four inches.

I rang him him up after finding an ancient piece of dimension lumber in the shed. It measured two inches by four inches.  I have offered it to the Smithsonian. If they decline, I'll try the Cato Institute.

Meanwhile, the project progresses, using  three and one-half (barely, these days) by one and one-halfs.

6 comments:

JohnW said...

"It measured two inches by four inches. "
Been curing since Coolidge?

NotClauswitz said...

I read that the first 2x4's were first made in China during the Chou dynasty in about 500 BC.
I was under the impression that current practice was designed around making it easier for carpenters to measure spaces. With 1/2" wallboard attached, a 3-1/2" piece of lumber becomes an actual 4" thick? The earlier 3-3/4" were from the 30's when they used 1/4" boards rather than sheetrock, or 1/8" lath with a 1/8" coating of plaster.
Or maybe it's just me and my CA new-math upbringing...

JohnW said...

"I read that the first 2x4's were first made in China during the Chou dynasty in about 500 BC." Wow, you learn something new every day. I knew that a great many things originated in China but I never knew that Imperial measurements were one of them. "This new learning amazes me, Sir Benevere - how does MJB press-fit 11 ounces of coffee into a one-pound can?"

Jim said...

Proving that I have some of the wittiest readers in all of Blogdom.

John, I'm pretty sure DC was talking about a stick of wood two hectares by four cubits. And as to the curing process of the stud: Yes, in your Sonora it would have shrunk enough you could pop it into a fudgesickle. Up here we have this deal called "humidity." :)

DC, I've pondered that myself and decided the dog won't hunt because it doesn't explain why I just bought some 1 x 12s measuring 3/4" by 11 1/4" -- scant on the width.

JohnW said...

Well, dividing rods into demijohns is a mistake George Washington wouldn't have made. Only a product of the California school system trained in New Math would conflate ferkins and hogsheads.

NotClauswitz said...

It's because we emphasize the Liberal Arts here and listen to NPR! That and all the engineers around here just type-in code, so there's the digital angle @demijohn /-ferkin.end kinda thing, like they do at Microsoft. :-)