fahrenheit

[Ed McCullough]

 Tom showed us an interesting video about 440 being chosen as the standard for A. 25 years ago I tried to learn how the numbers 32 and 212 were chosen as the freezing boiling points of water on the Fahrenheit scale. I looked in several technical books and none of them had the answer.
-. It's nicely convenient that the fractions 5/9 and 9/5 are in the formulas for converting between centigrade and Fahrenheit.

[Age]

I always figured stuff like feet, inches, miles, yards, pounds, ounces, and Fahrenheit were just Yankeeisms designed to drive the rest of the world nuts.

[brorat]

My guess is that feet, inches, and yards were English inventions based on the actual dimensions of the body of some king.  Foot ... the actual length of his foot.  Yard ... the length of his outstretched arm.  Inch ... the length of the part of his index finger between the first and second joints.  I have no idea!  It had to be something like that since there absolutely NO logic in the stuff!

As for the Fahrenheit scale?  I've read that an old German instrument maker devised a thermometer.  He hooked up with a Danish astronomer to come up with a scale.  As it turns out, it was a case of the "blind leading the blind"!  No rationale has survived these guys.

[Lockjaw Larry]

I was told in high school, last century, that the US was going to switch to the metric system.  It makes soooo much sense.  Maybe that’s why they didn’t switch for general uses.  I mean, the point of water freezing at sea level is zero on the thermometer and 100 at boiling is much easier to think and use. 

[Age]

I was told in high school, last century, that the US was going to switch to the metric system.  It makes soooo much sense.  Maybe that’s why they didn’t switch for general uses.  I mean, the point of water freezing at sea level is zero on the thermometer and 100 at boiling is much easier to think and use.

Yeah, I heard that too (about seventy-five years ago ) Meanwhile I'm still measuring 5", 6", 9", and a foot with my hands, a yard with my steps, and five feet with my out-stretched arms. (and we can't forget the cubit from the elbow to the finger tips

[Ed McCullough]

Anytime I have a carpentry project or any project that requires measuring, I always measure in the metric system.

[Grizzly]

The following doesn't really answer the whys of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit's (1686-1736) calculations, but it's entertaining and amusing.

https://www.straightdope.com/21342022/on-the-fahrenheit-scale-why-is-32-freezing-and-212-boiling-what-do-0-and-100-mean

Tom

[smojoe]

Brorat is correct. On both counts. Everything U.S. 'WAS' English. And why not? Maybe in Nieu Amsterdaam the measurements were Dutch. Maybe in St. Augustine the measurements were Spanish. As for Farenheit, while German, he decided to give his calculations to the English. Hence we have the system we have today.
Legend has it that when the U.S. was considering going to the metric system some government official (name forgotten) said: "We beat them in five wars with feet and inches. So why should WE change". Sounds like something 'I" would say, eh wot? BTW, since I have lived in Vienna, Trieste, Naples, and Paris, I was already familiar with metrics as a child. And use them interchangeably. But while working construction..and still do..I use the old English system. Why? Because that's what the building supply business still uses.
Perhaps S.A.E. (society of American engineers) had some impetus to this insanity? p.s. how does 745.7 watts equal one horsepower? A NOTHER weird case.

Mr. 180 cm, 65 kg. O.26054 horsepower / 194.287 watts.

[Age]

Smokey sed:
But while working construction..and still do..I use the old English system. Why? Because that's what the building supply business still uses.


When I was in Australia back in 84, I walked onto a construction site just out side of Melbn' and the contractor (whom I took to be Greek and was quick to bark back that he was a Macedonian!!  ) was using U.S. 2 x 4's and 4X8X1/2" drywall.

[Ed McCullough]

Somebody told me a few years ago that lumber yards in one part of Canada uses the metric system and lumber yards in the other part of Canada uses the English system.


Seven or eight years ago the program in my telephone that converts spoken word into text did simply that. Now it tries to predict what I'm going to say and frequently writes the wrong words. I do not always catch the errors when I'm writing, and afterwards discover lousy errors.

[Age]

Somebody told me a few years ago that lumber yards in one part of Canada uses the metric system and lumber yards in the other part of Canada uses the English system.


Seven or eight years ago the program in my telephone that converts spoken word into text did simply that. Now it tries to predict what I'm going to say and frequently writes the wrong words. I do not always catch the errors when I'm writing, and afterwards discover lousy errors.

Yeah, "baby" AI will do that. I personally like it that way; it's easier to tell that it's phony. When they work all the bugs out (which won't take long ) is when it'll start getting scary.😬

[brorat]

So, in the metric part of Canada, what's the size of a 2 x 4? 

[Ed McCullough]

Knit a 2x4 is always 2 in x 4 in by 8 ft, but I have no idea about the common board used for wall studs in the metric speaking part of Canada.

[brorat]

Yeah Ed. My question was pretty much tongue-in-cheek

I’m wondering if some Canadians go into Lowe’s and ask for a “4.68 x 9.36”.
Just curious!

[Grizzly]

Is a 2x4 actually two inches by four inches?

from a Google search:

The true measurement of a 2x4 is actually about 1.5″ x 3.5″. When the board is first rough sawn from the log, it is a true 2x4, but the drying process and planning [sic] of the board reduce it to the finished 1.5″ x 3.5″ size. The lumber is then sold as a “2x4” because the cost of the drying and machining are figured in.

Tom

[Ed McCullough]

I THINK you can buy 2x4s in various dimensions, if you have various purposes for the lumber, want it planed or not planed.

[smojoe]

If you has a home built in 1896 (as we had), it will use 2x4s. UNPLANED. If built 1929 they're 1 7/8ths by 3 7/8ths. In 1962 you will get 1 3/4 by 3 3/4. And in 1995 you're looking at 1 5/8ths by 3 5/8ths. Right now you should get those dimensions BUT in the home improvement industry they may be cheating a bit.

When working on my roof the Mexican boys asked for: "Dos e Quatros". Then later they needed "Dos e Seis". (that's 2x4s and 2x6s). I was surprised to find the measurements 1 9/16ths by 3 9/16ths. In several cases we had to shim 1/8" or so to get a tight fit on the rafters and freize boards.

Note: for special sizes you need an ACTUAL lumber mill/yard.

mr. cellulose

[Age]

Is a 2x4 actually two inches by four inches?

from a Google search:

The true measurement of a 2x4 is actually about 1.5″ x 3.5″. When the board is first rough sawn from the log, it is a true 2x4, but the drying process and planning [sic] of the board reduce it to the finished 1.5″ x 3.5″ size. The lumber is then sold as a “2x4” because the cost of the drying and machining are figured in.

Tom

There are real 2x4's (2" x 4") in some places in this old house of mine, as well as the garage (that burnt down a few years back.) The original "cottage" part of this house was built 98 years ago, from used lumber, hauled out here from Cleveland on a train, cuz there weren't any roads yet. That was back before "standards" were put in place. All I remember about those old 2 by's (when I was in the trades) was that they were a pain in the shorts to work around. Folks would say "They don't build house like this anymore," to which I would answer" Yeah, thank God!"

[Age]

Yeah, I never saw an original 2 x 4 that didn't look like a raw piece of wood from a saw mill, and they always measured at least 2" by  4" (sometimes bigger but never smaller.)

[Ed McCullough]

Sometime in the last 75 years I saw some 2x4s that measured 2x4, and they had pretty rough services. Hard on your hands.

[Lockjaw Larry]

Whoever built my house in 1903 was inconsiderate and covered all the 2x4’s with lathe and mortar so future owners couldn’t see the skeleton.  In the kitchen outside wall they used mud for insulation!  However, a few years ago I was installing a ceiling fan and saw the first floor rafters were 2x8’s and extremely hard.  Not pine nor poplar as was common back in tha day.  The size amazed me to say the least. 

[Age]

That's one thing for sure. They were rough and uglier than snot, but they were hard, and very strong. I remember using lathing strips to compensate, whenever I remodeled stuff around here.

[smojoe]

Believe it or not, those pieces were probably YELLOW pine. A hard softwood when fresh, over time they get to be soft hardwood. It takes about 11 years. In Ohio it was common to use chestnut for roof sheeting. The boards could be up to 18-19" (about half a metre) wide. They had logs around from the 'blight' and didn't want to waste them. Now the chestnut is mostly gone except for the deep woods but their cousins , the buckeye are still around.
Inrteresting trivia. In Bratislava, capitol of Slovakia, the riverfront park on the Danube has THOUSANDS of buckeye trees. The wife and I walked through ankle deep buckeyes. Hmmm, might be a good place to move the Buckeye Fest. No? Yes? Dunno?

Joe Athirio

[Lockjaw Larry]

Throws chestnuts at Sir Joey.

[Age]

I remember tearing off the old roof when I added a second floor to this house. The roofing boards were that really wide, dark brown (almost black)  stuff Joey mentioned. Other parts, like the roof joists were "used" lumber, some notched out from wherever they came from, and others, obviously from a house that musta burned down in Cleveland. All were rock hard.