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Moisture

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Moisture

Postby Dr.Al » 12 Aug 2022, 17:52

I'm wondering about buying a moisture meter (probably more for curiosity than need, but also because I have a couple of recently felled logs that I was wondering about bandsawing up and drying out & I thought it would be interesting to monitor the drying process).

I know nothing about moisture meters. Any recommendations?
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Re: Moisture

Postby Woodbloke » 12 Aug 2022, 18:08

Dr.Al wrote:
I know nothing about moisture meters. Any recommendations?

I use this one: https://www.axminstertools.com/brennens ... Country=GB

Reasonably accurate, German made, some 5* reviews. No issues with it thus far - Rob
I no longer work for Axminster Tools & Machinery.
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Re: Moisture

Postby RogerS » 12 Aug 2022, 18:21

You might like to check out this review https://toolsproper.com/the-best-moisture-meter/

I had the Wagner and it was very good if a bit spendy. Benefits are that it measures moisture much deeper inside the wood which, for your purposes would have thought ideal. The pin ones really only measure the moisture as far as their pins go. I have a couple of them...I could take a log...read the outside and it gave a good moisture rating. Split the log and check the newly exposed faces and dampa as anything still....as you'd expect.

My take on logs for fires is to split them when they are freshly felled. It's a fag, I know, but you're going to do it at some time so why not do it immediately ? It will dry quicker and be easier to split.

Of course, I always practice what I preach :eusa-whistle:
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Re: Moisture

Postby johnward » 12 Aug 2022, 19:34

I use one of the cheap 2 pin type. Apparently they aren't spot-on accurate but mine does give consistent readings. As Roger says it only records the moisture near the surface so some judgement needs to made on thicker stuff as I've had to on my current Garden Table project.
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Re: Moisture

Postby John Brown » 12 Aug 2022, 22:25

I think you could monitor the drying process with a set of scales
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Re: Moisture

Postby 9fingers » 12 Aug 2022, 22:31

I have a pin type one which I use to compare a new piece of timber with something that has been in a dry workshop for years and try the unknown piece over time. no idea of the absolute accuracy but fine as a comparator.

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Re: Moisture

Postby Mike G » 13 Aug 2022, 07:34

9fingers wrote:I have a pin type one which I use to compare a new piece of timber with something that has been in a dry workshop for years and try the unknown piece over time. no idea of the absolute accuracy but fine as a comparator.

Bob


That's exactly how to use these things, in my view. It doesn't much matter what the reading is in absolute terms........it matters how that reading compares to something you know to be dry. And only compare like materials......so wood with wood, bricks with bricks.
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Re: Moisture

Postby AndyT » 13 Aug 2022, 08:28

When I was unsure how dry my ash was, for making my not-quite-finished bed, I weighed the boards and plotted the weight loss over time. It would be interesting to see a proper engineer do that, alongside moisture readings. If you feel like it, and have something better than kitchen scales available.
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Re: Moisture

Postby Lurker » 13 Aug 2022, 10:54

Didn’t we have a discussion about these,not long ago??
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Re: Moisture

Postby 9fingers » 13 Aug 2022, 10:57

Lurker wrote:Didn’t we have a discussion about these,not long ago??

We certainly had a thread on AndyT weight method and I’d not be surprised if it had a meter offshoot.

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