For members of the Stud Spacing Interest Group only. All others hit delete.

Found this in ŒA Building History of Northern New England¹ by James L.
Garvin. ŒSince the 18th Century or earlier laths had been sold in bundles of
just over 4ft. By spacing members of a balloon frame so that a 4 ft lath
would extend across 3 stud, joist, or rafter intervals, carpenters arrived
at a standard spacing of 16 inches for all elements of a balloon frame ­ an
interval that has remained unchanged to the present day for all American
framing.¹ 

So it appears that the length of laths determined stud spacings in North
America.

What I haven¹t been able to establish is why in Australia stud spacings
settled on 18², and have been for 130 years at least that I know off.

I have some timber merchant flyers from the early 1920s. James Moore and
Sons of South Melbourne. They advertise Oregon (Douglas Fir) 4ft 6in laths
for walls in bundles of 90, 14 shillings. 4ft 6in for ceilings in bundles of
96, 11 shillings 6 pence.

Under a section titled useful information;

Laths. A bundle of 4ft 6in American covers 6 1/2 square yards. A bundle of
4ft 6in Ceiling laths covers 5 square yards.
Lath and Plaster-100 square yards requires 4 bags of lime, 3 yards of sand,
16 bundles 4ft 6in American Laths, 8lbs 1 1/4 nails, half a bag of hair.

Mick Dowling
Melbourne
Member, Hand Tool Preservation Association of Australia Inc.






On 23/04/2014 3:46 am, "Gary Roberts"  wrote:

> Yup, Bell, while not the first to mention balloon frames, was the first to
> write a book that everyone could understand! Just about that time there was
> standardization of lumber sizes allowing for carpenters and builders to work
> from pre drawn plans. Stock was real size, not planed size.
> 
> I¹ve seen lumber bills that include specific sized lathe along with the
> framing timber. I suspect this was to allow the carpenter to build according
> to the plans that were purchased from the various companies that sold them to
> people moving west.
> 
> That section on Why Apprentices Do No Learn is a gas to read! Bell was a
> practicing builder for well over 40 years so I guess he had a right to be
> grumpy.
> 
> Gary
> ...............................
> Gary Roberts
> http://toolemera.com
> http://toolemerabooks.com
> 
> "I'ld rather read a good book, than write a poor one." Christopher Morley
> 
>