Basic Sizes of Socftwoods and Hardwoods - November 1991
Basic Sizes of Socftwoods and Hardwoods - November 1991
Basic Sizes of Socftwoods and Hardwoods - November 1991
IHi / (F4)
UDC 691.11
- sawn
TABLE 1. Basic cross-sectional sizes of sawn soBwood
- at 20% moisture content - regularized for certain structural uses to give, for
example, uniformity of depth for floor joists.
Thickness - planed
(mm) cMdt *A
T The specification for all of these types may refer
75 100 125 150 175 200 !25 250 300
16 X X X X
back to the original sawn size, ie before machining.
19 X X X X
The section sizes quoted in BS 4471 are based on
22 X X X X X X X
a moisture content of 20%. A 1% change in size for
25 X X X X X X X X X
32 X X X X X X X X X
every 5% change in moisture content is required
36 X X X X with a maximum size being set at 30% moisture
38 X X X X X X X X X content.
44 X X X X X X X X X
47 X X X X X X X X X
50 X X X X X X X X X
Lengths
63 X X X X X X
75 X X X X X X X X TABLE 2. Basic lengths of sawn sofiwood (m)
100 X X X X X X
150 X X X
200 X
250 X
300 X
Timber surfaced in accordance with Canadian The resulting piece will usually be described as its
Standards Association Standard 0141 Softwood nominal size, ie 50 x 150mm planed and not by its
lumber or National Bureau of Standards NBS PS finished size.
20-70, is known as CLS (Canadian Lumber Stand-
ards) or ALS (American Lumber Standards). The Planed timber may also be referred to as wrought,
timber is surfaced on four sides (S4S) and has wrot, processed, dressed or surfaced timber, al-
rounded edges not exceeding 3mm radius. The though these terms can be confusing.
sizes are included in BS 4471: 1987 as shown in The reduction in width relates to square edged
Table 3. boards and does not include further reduction of the
face width caused when planing to t and g or similar
profiles.
TABLE 3 Sizes of surfaced North American
(CLS or ALS) softwood For example, when a 150mm width board is ton-
gued and grooved, the reduction in width will be
Thickness (rn~ Width (mm) measured to the end of the tongue and is not the
38 63 measurement of the face of the board that will show
38 89 when laid as a flooring board. The permissible face
38 114 measurement of the board when the tongue is
38 140 pushed into the groove can be 137mm.
38 184 See Figure 2.
38 235
38 285 For flooring and wood trim the following British
Standards are available:
Note: The figures shown in Table 3 have been con- BS 1297 Tongued and grooved softwood
verted from the original imperial sizes and have been flooring
rounded off to the nearest millimetre for commercial BS 1186 Part 3 Specification for wood trim and
application. its fixing.
Permissible reductions for a number of purposes When timber sections are resawn from larger sizes
appear in Table 4. No minus deviation is permitted; the standard permits up to a 2mm reduction; the
plus 1 mm is allowed. resulting pieces must be described as Resawn ex
larger. For example, two pieces 50 x 73mm could
Any finished sizes in British Standards covering be produced when flat sawn from a 50 x 150mm
particular timber products and components will piece. These may be then be described as 50 x
take preference over those contained in Table 4. 75mm Resawn ex larger. See Figure 3.
For example, a sawn section of 50 x 150mm can
be reduced by 3mm on the 50mm face and 5mm
on the 150mm face. See Figure 1.
150mm
150mm
145mm I
50mm 47mm 73mm 73mm
Figure I r
Reduction of sawn sizes by planing
Figure 4.
Permissible deviation for all finished sizes after processing is plus or minus 0.5mm. Through and throughsawn log
3 9002528
TIMBER SPECIFIGlTIONS
REFERENCES
BS 6100: Section 4. Glossary of building and civil CANADIAN STANDARDS ASSOCIATION. Soft-
engineering terms. wood lumber. CSA Standard 0141-I 970 Rexdale,
Section 4.1. Characteristics and properties of CSA, 1970
timber and wood based panel products. 1984.
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS. American
Section 4.2. Sizes and quantities of solid timber.
softwood lumber. PS 20-70. Washington, NBS
1984.
1970.
BS 1186 : Timber for and workmanship in joinery
Part 3 Specification for wood trim and its fixing.
1990.
BS 1297 : Tongued and grooved softwood flooring. TRADA WOOD INFORMATION SHEETS
1987.
4-14 Moisture in timber.
BS 4471: Specification for sizes of sawn and pro-
cessed softwood. 1987. Prices and a full list of publications are available on
request.
BS 4978: Softwood grades for structural use. 1988
BS 5534: Code of Practice for slating and tiling.
Part 1. Design.1 990
Acknowledgements
Whilst everyeffortis made to ensure theaccuracyof adweglven. the Association cannotaccept liabilityforlossordamagear~s~ngfrom the useofthe Information suppIled.
0 TRADA 1991 Printed in England