How long before wood is seasons?

[dancan]

Well , math doesn't lie unless you believe in creationism ...
I think a mm is fine for the fact that it will tell you wet and not so wet but unless all the math is correct and applied the end result is far from exact .
Therefore , it has to be magic lol

 

[mn woodcutter]

Well , math doesn't lie unless you believe in creationism ...
I think a mm is fine for the fact that it will tell you wet and not so wet but unless all the math is correct and applied the end result is far from exact .
Therefore , it has to be magic lol

The same could be said.....math doesn't lie unless you believe in the big bang, carbon dating, and evolution.
Anyway, I've never needed a moisture meter and don't really see the point unless you are stacking wet wood with dry wood and you loose track of what's what. I always do my cutting and splitting from September through December for the following winter and it's always ready to go.

 

[svk]

To beat a very dead horse:

Yes a 20 dollar meter isn't going to read perfect. BUT for a guy like me who gets wood from varying sources it's great to check to see where things are at and also how they dry over a time period. If you are resplitting and testing the same wood you tested X number of months ago I'd say the change in MC is pretty darn accurate even if the reading isn't exactly the same as using the scientific method.

There's no replacement for stacking your split wood in the sun (and top covered for me) for two summers. But as I highlighted above I can skip this with some of the wood I cut thanks to my "gadget".

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Any hand held MM that doesn't have pre-installed and calibrated values for the specific wood being test is worthless.

Dunno. The $20 one I have is pretty close on birch and spruce to the $1500 one we have at the shop. The spendy one has a book the size of the Sears catalog to calibrate it for species, temp, humidity, what you ate for lunch 2 weeks ago, etc.

 

[JeffHK454]

Dunno. The $20 one I have is pretty close on birch and spruce to the $1500 one we have at the shop. The spendy one has a book the size of the Sears catalog to calibrate it for species, temp, humidity, what you ate for lunch 2 weeks ago, etc.

Dang you got lucky getting one that was pre-calibrated for the species of woods you deal with and at that one air temperture where nonadjustable units can read correctly.

All the cheap-0 ones I've messed with gave readings all over the map in any wood I used them on, I have used a Delmhorst hand held that when set-up right is very accurate.

No magic, just conductivity.

 

[Marine5068]

I own one and use it like SVK does.
I still use the one or two year seasoning method, but it's nice to be able to check woods from different sources and to check wood to see how its doing in the stacks.
It's just another tool to play with, but like most tools, will never replace the best tool..... your head.

 

[zogger]

I own one and use it like SVK does.
I still use the one or two year seasoning method, but it's nice to be able to check woods from different sources and to check wood to see how its doing in the stacks.
It's just another tool to play with, but like most tools, will never replace the best tool..... your head.

I like using mine as well. I think about it the same as a gas gauge on a car, yep, not real accurate but once you get used to it gives a good enough ball park.

 

[alleyyooper]

What do bowling pins sound like? I have heard cows bawl when hit same with deer. But despite knowing there are people whop go to a place to roll a ball at a bunch of wood pins they say I have never heard any one talk about the sound they make when hit.

Al

 

[BoBDoG2o02]

Friggin' magic I say... friggin' magic‼
*

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

 

[Whitespider]

Dunno. The $20 one I have is pretty close on birch and spruce to the $1500 one we have at the shop.

I actually find that very believable.
Likely your 20 dollar meter is calibrated for dimensional construction lumber (i.e. White Fir and White Pine) at a typical 65-70° temperature... or there about. If you look at the chart I provided on page one, the conductance values for birch and spruce (at least one spruce) run pretty darn close to the fir and pine... real darn close.

A temperature variance of 10-20° from the calibrated ain't gonna' make much difference. Where ya' get into trouble is like in the example I talked about earlier in this thread; bringing your firewood in from the cold winter temperatures and stacking it next to the hot stove... and then believing your meter when it says the wood lost 6 points moisture in a day or so. Similarly, checking your firewood in August on a sunny 93° day, and then in November on a cloudy 23° day... you can't even make a general comparison, you're comparing apples-to-oranges.
*

 

[lindnova]

A moisture meter is fun to play around with but in the end there is no substitute for proper drying and time.

My Harbor Freight meter seems to work pretty good in warmer weather, but not in frozen wood. If I bring the frozen wood in then it condensates some and needs to acclimate for a day for any accuracy. It's never told me anything that I couldn't have guessed anyway.

There is a firewood dealer here that has a natural gas fired kiln that heats the wood to 160° for a day or two and will dry wood from green wet down to 20%. Really nice clean dry wood. Of course he gets a premium for it. It seems he is doing ok. Has a large delivery business and retail where customers can pick up pre-measured blocks in a display. I think they are about 1/4 cord.

Same theory as stacking by the stove. I prefer not to stack wood too close to my stove for safety reasons. Usually bring a tote down and let it sit about 6 ft away from the stove for a day or two or weeks to loose any surface moisture. I don't use the stove too often so it usually sits inside for a while.

 

[cmsmoke]

My moisture meter uses watch batteries...It has to be accurate!

 

[Whitespider]

My moisture meter uses watch batteries...It has to be accurate!

True story...

I cannot wear a Timex or other cheap (OK, inexpensive) watches... they won't keep time and totally quit running in just a few days.
Several years ago I took a half dozen of them back to the local K-mart every week or two because they plain quit.
I was talkin' with a jeweler friend of mine he he told me that some people, a tiny minority of people, have that (unexplained) effect on cheap watches... unexplained, but still a real phenomenon.
He gave me a (relatively) expensive watch to try, if I remember correctly it was around $300.00, told me to wear it for a month and if it kept working I could come back and pay for it... if it didn't, I could give it back to him no strings. I wore that watch for several years before I smashed it all to hell by accident. I replaced it with a Walmart purchase, it quit in just a few days... I returned it three times for a replacement every few days until I just asked for my money back. Now I just use my cell phone to check the time.

True story...
*

 

[cmsmoke]

I have heard of similar accounts WS.

 

[Whitespider]

I have heard of similar accounts WS.

Magic??
Just kiddin'...
*

 

[olympyk_999]

True story...

I cannot wear a Timex or other cheap (OK, inexpensive) watches... they won't keep time and totally quit running in just a few days.
Several years ago I took a half dozen of them back to the local K-mart every week or two because they plain quit.
I was talkin' with a jeweler friend of mine he he told me that some people, a tiny minority of people, have that (unexplained) effect on cheap watches... unexplained, but still a real phenomenon.
He gave me a (relatively) expensive watch to try, if I remember correctly it was around $300.00, told me to wear it for a month and if it kept working I could come back and pay for it... if it didn't, I could give it back to him no strings. I wore that watch for several years before I smashed it all to hell by accident. I replaced it with a Walmart purchase, it quit in just a few days... I returned it three times for a replacement every few days until I just asked for my money back. Now I just use my cell phone to check the time.

True story...
*

which of your 8 wrists...ankles? do you wear it on?

 

[cmsmoke]

LOL! Never gave that a thought! So, you do believe?

 

[olympyk_999]

Whitespider

Bias ply...magic or no?

 

[zogger]

True story...

I cannot wear a Timex or other cheap (OK, inexpensive) watches... they won't keep time and totally quit running in just a few days.
Several years ago I took a half dozen of them back to the local K-mart every week or two because they plain quit.
I was talkin' with a jeweler friend of mine he he told me that some people, a tiny minority of people, have that (unexplained) effect on cheap watches... unexplained, but still a real phenomenon.
He gave me a (relatively) expensive watch to try, if I remember correctly it was around $300.00, told me to wear it for a month and if it kept working I could come back and pay for it... if it didn't, I could give it back to him no strings. I wore that watch for several years before I smashed it all to hell by accident. I replaced it with a Walmart purchase, it quit in just a few days... I returned it three times for a replacement every few days until I just asked for my money back. Now I just use my cell phone to check the time.

True story...
*

Well that's strange, I had the same experience growing up until adult days with watches, they would just quit or not read true. I gave up on them. I also used to notice some weirdness with analog TVs.

 

[Dalmatian90]

Meters schmeters.

Mark some representative pieces. Weigh 'em on a decent scale. I'm thinking one of those nice old grain scales with weights instead of springs.

When they've gone a few months without losing any weight they've achieved equilibrium with your average humidity levels and they're never gonna season any more unless you put them in a kiln (or near your woodstove) to force the issue.

You'll want to take them from representative locations in your stack, so you get to unstack and re-stack your wood each month as you get the marked pieces for weighing.

If you want precision also record the daily dry and wet bulb temperatures so once the wood has been stable for a month or so you can calculate the average relative humidity it has been stable in and know what the wood is too.

Or you can get a gizmo that's not as accurate (guess how they figured out how to calibrate them in the first place...)

Or just be happy when the wood isn't hissing anymore when you burn it.