one—white quickly shows any dirtiness.
Surgeons also wore white until 1914, when a surgeon decided that red blood against a white uniform was rather repulsive and needlessly graphic. The spinach green color he chose to replace it helped neutralize the bright red.
At the end of World War II, the lighting was changed in operating rooms, and most surgeons switched to a color called “misty green.”
Since about 1960, most surgeons have used a color called “seal blue,” which contains a lot of gray. Why this latest switch? According to Bernard Lepper, of the Career Apparel Institute of New York City, seal blue shows up better on the TV monitors used to demonstrate surgical techniques to medical students.
Submitted by Norman J. Sanchez, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Thanks also to: Lori Bending, of Des Plaines, Illinois; Andrew Neiman, of Dallas, Texas; and Reverend Ken Vogler, of Jeffersonville, Indiana .
86 / DAVID FELDMAN
Why Doesn’t a “Two-by-Four” Measure Two Inches by Four Inches?
Before the invention of mass-scale surfacing equipment, most lumber was sold to the construction trade in rough form. In the “good old days,” a “two-by-four” was approximately two inches by four inches.
Even then, two inches by four inches was a rough estimate—cutting equipment trimmed too thick or too thin on occasion.
As the construction trade demanded smooth edges, surfacing machinery was created to handle the task automatically. These devices reduced the dimensions of the rough lumber by at least one-eighth of an inch in thickness and width.
The radio talk-show caller who posed this Imponderable wondered why he got gypped by buying finished “two-by-fours” that measured 1 5/8 inches thick by 3 5/8 inches wide. The answer WHY DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE? / 87
comes from H. M. Niebling, executive vice-president of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association, Inc.:
[After the early planers were used,] profile or “splitter” heads were developed for planers, wherein one could take a 2 × 12 rough piece and make 3 pieces of 2 × 4s in one surfacing operation
[i.e., as the lumber went through the planer it was surfaced on four sides and then, at the end of the machine, split and surfaced on the interior sides]. Unfortunately, the “kerf,” or amount of wood taken out in this splitting operation, further reduced the widths.
The size of these “kerfs,” three-eighths of an inch, didn’t allow processors to make three pieces 3 7/8 inches wide (three times 3
7/8 plus three times 3/8, to represent the “wastage” of the kerfs, equals 12¾ inches, wider than the original 12-inch rough piece).
This is why the dimensions of the finished piece were reduced to 1
5/8 inches thick by 3 5/8 inches wide.
If you think this is complicated, Niebling recounts other problems in settling the dimensions of lumber. Fresh-cut lumber is called
“green” lumber, whether or not it is actually green in color at the time. Green lumber must be dried by natural or artificial means.
When lumber dries, it shrinks and becomes stronger. Some lumbermen believed that either dry lumber should be sold smaller in size or that green lumber should be sold larger. Recounts Niebling: “The result was that 2 × 4s surfaced dry comes out at 1½ by 3½ instead of 1 5/8 by 3 7/8 . To settle the fight between green and dry producers, a green 2 × 4 is surfaced to 1 9/16 by 3 9/16 . In effect, they reduced the green size too to settle the fight.”
The lumbermen we spoke to agreed that the pint-sized two-by-fours provided the same strong foundation for houses that the rough original-sized ones would. One expert compared the purchase of a two-by-four to buying a steak. You buy a nice steak and it is trimmed with fat. Sure, the butcher will trim off the fat, but then he’ll raise the price per pound. One way or the other, you pay.
88 / DAVID FELDMAN
Why Is an Acre 43,560 Square Feet?
“Acre” is an Anglo-Saxon word that means,
Surgeons also wore white until 1914, when a surgeon decided that red blood against a white uniform was rather repulsive and needlessly graphic. The spinach green color he chose to replace it helped neutralize the bright red.
At the end of World War II, the lighting was changed in operating rooms, and most surgeons switched to a color called “misty green.”
Since about 1960, most surgeons have used a color called “seal blue,” which contains a lot of gray. Why this latest switch? According to Bernard Lepper, of the Career Apparel Institute of New York City, seal blue shows up better on the TV monitors used to demonstrate surgical techniques to medical students.
Submitted by Norman J. Sanchez, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Thanks also to: Lori Bending, of Des Plaines, Illinois; Andrew Neiman, of Dallas, Texas; and Reverend Ken Vogler, of Jeffersonville, Indiana .
86 / DAVID FELDMAN
Why Doesn’t a “Two-by-Four” Measure Two Inches by Four Inches?
Before the invention of mass-scale surfacing equipment, most lumber was sold to the construction trade in rough form. In the “good old days,” a “two-by-four” was approximately two inches by four inches.
Even then, two inches by four inches was a rough estimate—cutting equipment trimmed too thick or too thin on occasion.
As the construction trade demanded smooth edges, surfacing machinery was created to handle the task automatically. These devices reduced the dimensions of the rough lumber by at least one-eighth of an inch in thickness and width.
The radio talk-show caller who posed this Imponderable wondered why he got gypped by buying finished “two-by-fours” that measured 1 5/8 inches thick by 3 5/8 inches wide. The answer WHY DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE? / 87
comes from H. M. Niebling, executive vice-president of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association, Inc.:
[After the early planers were used,] profile or “splitter” heads were developed for planers, wherein one could take a 2 × 12 rough piece and make 3 pieces of 2 × 4s in one surfacing operation
[i.e., as the lumber went through the planer it was surfaced on four sides and then, at the end of the machine, split and surfaced on the interior sides]. Unfortunately, the “kerf,” or amount of wood taken out in this splitting operation, further reduced the widths.
The size of these “kerfs,” three-eighths of an inch, didn’t allow processors to make three pieces 3 7/8 inches wide (three times 3
7/8 plus three times 3/8, to represent the “wastage” of the kerfs, equals 12¾ inches, wider than the original 12-inch rough piece).
This is why the dimensions of the finished piece were reduced to 1
5/8 inches thick by 3 5/8 inches wide.
If you think this is complicated, Niebling recounts other problems in settling the dimensions of lumber. Fresh-cut lumber is called
“green” lumber, whether or not it is actually green in color at the time. Green lumber must be dried by natural or artificial means.
When lumber dries, it shrinks and becomes stronger. Some lumbermen believed that either dry lumber should be sold smaller in size or that green lumber should be sold larger. Recounts Niebling: “The result was that 2 × 4s surfaced dry comes out at 1½ by 3½ instead of 1 5/8 by 3 7/8 . To settle the fight between green and dry producers, a green 2 × 4 is surfaced to 1 9/16 by 3 9/16 . In effect, they reduced the green size too to settle the fight.”
The lumbermen we spoke to agreed that the pint-sized two-by-fours provided the same strong foundation for houses that the rough original-sized ones would. One expert compared the purchase of a two-by-four to buying a steak. You buy a nice steak and it is trimmed with fat. Sure, the butcher will trim off the fat, but then he’ll raise the price per pound. One way or the other, you pay.
88 / DAVID FELDMAN
Why Is an Acre 43,560 Square Feet?
“Acre” is an Anglo-Saxon word that means,
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