Moisture measuring & wax Question.

[Bill Wyko]

I just got a blank with a heavy coat of wax on it. My question is, does the wax affect the reading I get from my moisture meter?

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

Bill, I'm afraid that the only way to accurately measure the MC is to rip the piece open and test the inside along the side grain. End grain testing, with or without the wax, will not produce an accurate reading.

[Bill Wyko]

Thanks Malcolm. It is pretty heavy, i'll let it sit for now. I'll put it on the scale and see if it looses weight over the next few weeks. Summers around the corner so that will help. News just said we're suppose to hit 100 this weekend.:eek:

[Rick Markham]

Bill, it's interesting that you have brought this up. This is a question that I have wondered about. Seems most of the meters only measure to about 1/2" in depth. So I'm guessing weighing is going to be the most accurate way to tell. I haven't been at this real long, (and don't have a moisture meter) but I've "guess-ti-mated" by feel for a couple of pieces. Now part of my question is how well do the blanks actually "dry" when coated in wax, especially a heavy coat? For the thick maple burl blanks that have been green, I've quite successfully used a dewaxed shellac as a preservative (it's something I ALWAYS have) and it works super well at allowing the blank to dry without checking or cracking. I did recently get a bunch of still "too moist" (for my tastes) black walnut, and it's coated in heavy wax. Is it going to dry if I leave it in the wax, and am I going to have to wait 5 years before it's too my liking?

[Bill Wyko]

I'm kind of blessed & cursed here in AZ. Our summers can be miserably hot but my metal garage becomes about a 140 degree kiln in June. I also have all that eucalyptus out there waiting for the heat. It's definitely too wet, I turned the outside of a piece. By the next morning, it had cracks all over it. With the Anchorseal it has stayed stable w/o cracks so far.

[Rick Markham]

Bill, I tried turning a piece of my walnut, it was so fresh it started checking while I was hollowing, by the time I got a finishing cut halfway down it blew apart on me. It needs to sit a bit longer me thinks. I've been pretty fortunate thus far, my stash enjoys nice dry AC air, and it seems to dry pretty rapidly and evenly. With the heavy coat of wax though, I'm not sure how that's going to work out. Anchorseal seems to work like the shellac in my experience, it does a good job of letting the blank breathe and dry gracefully. I know if I was preserving blanks, those would be the two I would use. I actualy just looked at my blanks, I have one of the walnut ones where the wax has come off and there is some checking. I don't have a fortune in these so it's not a major concern. But I do have some large wax covered BLM burl blanks, that I keep a pretty close eye on. I'm not afraid to liberally apply shellac if needed :D

[Ryan Baker]

Yes, the wax on blanks definitely DOES interfere with moisture readings. Though as already mentioned, measuring moisture near the surface (even without the wax) doesn't mean much. Weighing the blank is about the only thing you can do with large blanks.

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Bill, I have wondered about this also,so here's what I just tried. I took a 9" tall green piece of hickory,turned a vessel and rough hollowed to about 3/8" thick. I coated the outside with anchor-seal & hung it up to air dry. After about 2 months of air drying I cut it in half and used my Wagner pinless moisture & checked the moisture reading on both the inside & outside of the piece. The inside reading was 12 % and the outside reading was 16%.
The meter has a depth range of 1/2" so it should have read clear through the piece.
So I guess in my informal test there is a 4% difference between the waxed side & unwaxed side.
I guess I'll subtract about 4% from my meter readings from now on.
All that being said I only use the moisture meter as a rough guide anyway,not a absolute moisture content, in my area I call it dry enough if the meter reads anywhere at 12 % or lower.

[Scott Hackler]

A wax dipped blank will not dry, at least for a VERY long time. My suggestion is to remove the side grain wax and leave it coated on the end grain. Depending on the thickness of the blank, it "might" be dry in a year or so, after exposing the side grain.

Of course if your going to be cutting it up for segmenting, I would think of re-sawing it to 4/4 and then with the side grain de-waxed, it would likely air dry in 4-6 months.

[Bill Wyko]

This one will be used to do another Illusion vessel. We're about to go into the 100's with almost no humidity. I have a metal garage at my shop that will reach into the 130's easily when left closed up. I actually have 2 of these blanks that are very similar. I'll remove some wax on one and leave the other. I'll weigh both and do an experiment to see if our extreme heat here will work in my favor. I also have all the eucalyptus out there too, it's anchorsealed. My hope is that the heat won't cause all that eucalyptus start to crack & split.

Thanks everyone for all the input, keep it coming. Any advice we can all share is a big ++++ When it comes to seasoning blanks.

[Rick Markham]

Thanks Scott, that answered my question! :)

[Dale Miner]

Bill,

To your original question. Anytime I have tried to measure the moisture in a piece through the wax or anchorseal, it gives me a bogus reading. Usually a very low reading compared to the reading taken after removing the wax and at least a heavy scraping of wood where the wax was. I have a pin type meter. I think the wax insulates the pins and prevents current flow through the wood resulting in the bogus reading.

[robert baccus]

Different strokes for-----i relish turning wet wood--then coating with wax. less wood dries faster and hardly ever a crack. it requires returning but thar's fun too. the more wood you can get offa piece the less degrade you have. for vases and hollow forms i wax the outside and lips only after roughing and hollowing--it seems to draw the wood together if anything. i often have too much wood to rough out right now so in the lilly pond it goes. wood keeps forever in fresh water. i even throw blanks that have become dry and hard in the lilly pond to soften up. The older i get the lazyer i become.-------------older forester