Brendon_t Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Last week, hanging with a buddy, he had some customers come over and pick up some ash planks that I remember him milling just a few months ago. I asked him why he was selling it already before it was dried. He smiled and told me it was dried already. Calling BS as it hadn't even been 3 months yet, he grabbed a 6/4 stick, cut about a foot off and handed me his moisture meter. 11%. Not believing it I grabbed mine, 10%. How is that possible without a kiln? The tree was a landscape cut down. Living when felled. Sat for 30 days in the yard then cut. Each stack is stickered and stacked under this thick white plastic siding looking stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 I think wood air dries faster than I thought it did. Wishful thinking! Maybe I'd better check mine. But y'all are more arid than we are? But 10% is low! My newspaper isn't that dry! What kind of meter do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Most moisture meters will read only as deep as the pins go in. Just because it's 10% an eighth inch under the surface doesn't mean it's 10% in the center. Those meters are largely unreliable and I wouldn't be surprised if they were wrong. Of course it's warm and bone dry in CA so it's not impossible...but I kind of doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 I drilled some small holes in some 18 month old 8/4 ish cherry slabs and hammered some finishing nails down about half way and used my pin meter against the nails and got about 17%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted July 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 The measurements were taken on a freshly cut end, one foot in, at the center of the plank with needle buried. His was an analog type Meter, mine is a digital one I got at woodcraft somewhere in the $45 range. Our normal humidity sits between 10 and 20 %, 340 days per year. It is a desert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Well then I guess you've found the one benefit of living in the desert... No way those boards would be dry in 80 days of St. Louis jungle air. The owner of my lumberyard has some stock that he had milled and stacked and stickered back in February...you can still see visible moisture in the center when you crosscut a 4/4 board...no moisture meter needed. Still green. Probably helps it was ash...the very open pores probably helped with the rapid loss of moisture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewyo Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Well then I've guess you've found the one benefit of living in the desert... No way those boards would be dry in 80 days of St. Louis jungle air. The owner of my lumberyard has some stock that he had milled and stacked and stickered back in February...you can still see visible moisture in the center when you crosscut a 4/4 board...no moisture meter needed. Still green. Probably helps it was ash...the very open pores probably helped with the rapid loss of moisture. One benefit?! What about the "dry heat"? ...it makes your undies a lot less moist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Well then I've guess you've found the one benefit of living in the desert... No way those boards would be dry in 80 days of St. Louis jungle air. The owner of my lumberyard has some stock that he had milled and stacked and stickered back in February...you can still see visible moisture in the center when you crosscut a 4/4 board...no moisture meter needed. Still green. Probably helps it was ash...the very open pores probably helped with the rapid loss of moisture. It's rained so much in Northern VA the lumber in my shop is thinking about becoming a tree again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted July 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 One benefit?! What about the "dry heat"? ...it makes your undies a lot less moist A lot less moist than pure sweat is still pretty swampy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Staehling Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 Probably helps it was ash...the very open pores probably helped with the rapid loss of moisture. Also I believe that ash starts out with a pretty low moisture content when green as compared to most species. I never verified that myself, but have been told it many times back when we were heating the house with wood. I do recall that it seemed to burn somewhat ok when green and dried pretty fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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