Rough cut lumber is wood cut from logs at a sawmill, complying with nominal sizing standards for dimensional lumber and planks. It is often softwood, while hardwood is used for veneers, boards, and plywood. Rough cut lumber needs drying and resurfacing, but is cheaper and thicker than finished lumber. It is often used by carpenters who can plane or join the wood to their specifications.
Rough cut lumber is wood that has been cut by a sawmill from a large log. When a log is processed in a sawmill, it is cut into pieces that will be sold as boards, dimensional lumber, veneers and other components. Very rough in texture, this wood nevertheless complies with nominal sizing standards for dimensional lumber and planks.
Dimensional lumber, widely used for the framing of houses and other structures, is originally cut to certain dimensions of width and thickness. Measured in inches, the most commonly known dimensional lumber is the “two by four” or 2×4 (about 5.1 x 10.2 cm). Dimensional lumber is commonly available in various combinations of 1, 2, 3 and 4 inches (approximately 2.5, 5.1, 7.6 and 10.2 cm), although larger sizes are also available. Lengths are specified separately, as in “a 4-foot 8×2”.
Most dimensional lumber is softwood, that is, softwoods such as pine. Hardwood, which comes from deciduous trees such as maple and oak, is most often used to make veneers, boards and plywood, which in turn are used for paneling, furniture construction and other similar items. Measuring hardwood boards is different from the “two by” standards in that only the thickness is usually measured, and boards of varying non-standard lengths and widths are available at a lumberyard. These boards are delivered to the lumberyard as rough cut lumber or with one or both sides surfaced.
The logs are cut shortly after harvesting, but rough cut lumber still has a very high moisture content and needs to be dried. Product of a living organism, wood reacts to environmental influences such as heat and humidity. Much rough-hewn lumber will twist and warp in the drying process, and in order to reclaim it for productive use, it will be resurfaced &emdash; cut, joined and planed &emdash; to produce a straight, flat, and smooth piece of lumber. This process removes significant amounts of stock, so the final piece of lumber offered for sale will be significantly smaller than the original &emdash; “nominal” &emdash; size of the timber. A finished 2×4, for example, will measure exactly 1.5 x 3.5 inches (38mm x 89mm). Similarly, a hardwood board that has been roughly cut to 1 inch (2.54 cm) &emdash; usually referred to as “4/4” &emdash; it will be 7/8 inch (2.22 cm) thick if finished on one side only and 13/16 inch (2.06 cm) if finished on both sides.
Rough cut lumber is often used by carpenters because it is much less expensive than finished lumber, which must be sanded and flat before being sold. In addition to its relatively low cost, rough cut lumber is thicker than the surface lumber available at a lumberyard, giving more room for error in their designs. Also, when woodworkers do their surface, they can plane or join the wood to exactly their specifications, and many report that they can often produce a smoother, flatter surface on the wood than they’d be able to purchase from the lumberyard. One major downside to buying rough cut lumber, however, is that it is still green and needs drying. A rule of thumb for drying rough cut lumber is to give it one year of drying time for every inch of thickness.
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