Eli5 Why is dimensional lumber not cut to its actual dimensions or why is it named something other than its actual dimension?
In: Engineering
It is milled to its named dimension, then dried and planed to a slightly smaller size. A 4×4 is milled at 4″x4″, shrinks slightly during drying, and is then planed to 3.5″x3.5″
If you use homemade lumber (not planed) that actually measures full size, that is called rough-cut lumber and you can purchase hardware designed for those dimensions.
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