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methinks the carpenter is english but he also highlights another timber anomloy here in england, that i tried to avoid mentioning above
the metric dimensions he gives for 4x2 (38x89mm) tells me its what you guys buy everyday, its what you know as 2x4.
Here in england i and many other carpenters know this as CLS (canadian lumber stock) and we use it exclusivly for non loadbearing studwork
we have a second standard for what we know as carcassing timber (loadbearing framing / roof timbers) it is stress graded, it is regularised and has to be tannalised, nothing else will do for enginnering calculations
by now you have a flavour of the apparant confusion im faced with everyday
so you wont be suprised to hear three odd things
1 we call 4x2 [2x4] even if it is american/canadian or european sourced. so that should be clear as mud............... it is simple, when you know it in your bones
2 its sawn dimensions (prior to regularising) are metricated inches................ so 2 inches is 50mm (2x25mm) and 4 inches is 100mm (4x25mm)
3 it has different finished dimensions to CLS......... english carcassing timber when regularised is 45x95
weve been joking about how "apparantly complicated" my timber sourcing requirements are. in reality it is VERY simple
ALL timber in england (trim or carcassing/framing) for the last 43 years is based on nominal dimensions. those nominal dimensions are based on simplified metricated inches IE 1 inch equals 25mm
unless im using american / canadian sourced 2x for non load bearing stud partitions
or, im matching with old english framing......... where sawn 2x4 is finished 2x4 rather than what you guys buy............ namely 1-1/2 x 3-1/2
am i really confused? not at all.
i know all the differences and i deal with them. what DOES piss me off is when the supplier or the collection guy doesnt follow my specific instructions
NW architect was joking, but he has my dilema / problem dialed perfectly
with some of my less well educated / dont care, collection guys. ive learned to give them an offcut of what i want to the timber merchant to ensure i get what i want
chippy is the most common word for a site based carpenter in england, in scotland hes more often called a joiner
a joiner in england is a different trade, thats a shop based guy who makes doors, staircases etc
I can tell you're a southerner, Tom. Joiner is used for both bench (shop) and site skills in the North of England (certainly north of Stoke) - applies equally in the west as the east You rarely hear the term cerpenter used in this neck of the woods.
Yes
Yes
Tanalised = pressure cylinder treated with a water-based wood preservative often containing a trace dye, either green or brown (normally "Tanalith E" or similar, hence the term "tanalised")
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