goodstudent
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- Aug 12, 2009
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What does 2x4 or 2x6 wood mean? Does 2 mean the wood has thickness of 2 inches?
There are other sizes like 2x10,
Is is understood that the first number "2" (before the x) is always the thickness? Then the second number (after the x) is the length and breadth? The length is 10 inches, breadth is 10 inches, and it is a square shape?
Sometimes I see 3 numbers are listed as dimensions, e.g Num1xNum2xNum3
Is it always listed as Num1=thickness, Num2=width, Num3=length ?
Is there is a standard rule that everyone will follow when they write Num1xNum2xNum3
...But when I was editing a DIY book in the early '80s, there was an unholy mixture. I'm not sure of the details now, but I think in manufactured composites like hardboard or chipboard, they used metric for the depth but imperial for the length and width - say, 'A 4 foot by 6 foot piece of 5mm plywood'. (In the UK, metrication didn't happen until the '70s though, and by now the situation may be less confused than it was only 10 years after the law was changed.)
b
In the US, we can't think that way.