Standard Lengths & Widths

The timber industry goes back many hundreds of years and some the historic methods of sales and sawmilling are still used today. A mixture of imperial & metric sizes and volumes are commonplace.

Softwood Timber

In most cases the metric system is used

Thickness ( shown as 1st dimension) x width in millimetreseg 47 x 100mm 63 x 250mm
Standard thicknesses 12mm, 16mm, 19mm 22mm, 25mm ,32mm, 36mm , 38mm, 47mm, 50mm, 63mm, 75mm, 100mm , 125mm , 150mm, 175mm, 200mm, 225mm, 250mm, 300mm
Standard widths25mm ,32mm, 36mm , 38mm, 47mm, 50mm, 63mm, 75mm, 100mm , 125mm , 150mm, 175mm, 200mm, 225mm, 250mm, 300mm
Length of timber (muliples of 300mm or 0.3m)0.3m , 0.6m, 0.9m, 1.2m, 1.5m, 1.8m, 2.1m, 2.4m, 2.7m, 3.0m , 3.3m, 3.6m, 4.2m, 4.5m, 4.8m, 5.1m, 5.4m, 6.0m, 6.6m, 7.2m, 7.8m, 8.4m
Weights (grams or kilograms)Dry softwoods approx 550kg/m3 Wet (unseasoned) 600-650kg/m3

Hardwood Timber

Both metric & imperial systems used

Thicknesses19mm, 25mm, 32mm, 38mm, 50mm , 52mm , 63mm 75mm, 80mm, 100mm , 125mm, 150mm, 225mm, 250mm, 300mm
Standard thicknesses 12mm, 16mm, 19mm 22mm, 25mm ,32mm, 36mm , 38mm, 47mm, 50mm, 63mm, 75mm, 100mm , 125mm , 150mm, 175mm, 200mm, 225mm, 250mm, 300mm
Widths - Usually random *Tip: allow 25-40% waste when estimatingRandom up to 150mm , Random 150mm & wider, Random 225mm & wider
Fixed widths (dimensioned stock)Popular dimensioned stock sizes are 25x100nn, 25x150mm, 50x100mm, 50x150mm & 100x100mm
Weights (grams or kilograms)Dry softwoods approx 550kg/m3 Wet (unseasoned) 600-650kg/m3

Sheet Materials

Imperial sizes converted to metric

ThicknessesFrom 1.5mm to 50mm
Standard sizes2440 x 1220mm, 3050 x 1220mm, 3050 x 1525mm
Weights (grams or kilograms)From 500kg/m3 to 800kg/m3