# moisture tester



## txcowpoke (Sep 18, 2007)

Somebody help this dummy out please. I am thinking about buying a moisture tester to test the mesquite I am milling. My question is how do they work? If my wood is 6" thick how does it check moisture in the middle of the wood? And at what percentage is the wood dry enough?


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## speckle-catcher (May 20, 2004)

it doesn't. a moisture meter checks moisture at the surface, or as much as the pins can penetrate.

I've been told that generally, it takes 1 year per inch of thickness to air dry wood. I don't know about kiln drying.

the good thing about mequite is that it is very unique among woods in that it shrink almost equally in all directions.

Dry enough depends on what you will use it for. Air dried in Texas means it will generally be around 11-14% m/c. Kiln dried is usually less than 5%.

I use a ligno-mat e/d - and I believe the lowest it will measure is 5%

if you're building furniture - you'll want kiln dried material. (I think). I don't build furniture, and have no intent to do so.

as woodturners, we generally like to start with green wood - rough turn, then let dry before final turning.


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## txcowpoke (Sep 18, 2007)

Thanks for the info, I am building a couple of mantles and I need to know if the wood is dried before I put a sealer on it. I am looking into a kiln but the question still remains. How do I know when the internal wood is dried enough?


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## speckle-catcher (May 20, 2004)

by weight.

you could either build yourself a solar kiln (google it for plans)

weigh each piece of wood before going in the kiln. Then weigh at regular intervals. when the weight stops changing, it's dry.


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