Moisture meter

[tom van sickle]

Hi Guys, I need to get a moisture meter for some walnut logs I had cut. Any recommendations, and does price matter? Thank you, Tom.

[Mike Chalmers]

I bought one at Harbor Freight for under $20. Is it very accurate? Probaly not, but close enough to judge if a board is ready for milling I think. The pins are short, but, if you cut a piece off and tect in the end that is fresh, it should give you a good idea of the humidity level. I determined that a reading of 11 or 12% gave me wood thta is good to work with, so I use that as my benchmark. Is the moisture content really 11 or 12%? Probably not, but it tells me I can work with this board.

[Jesse Busenitz]

http://www.amazon.com/General-Tools-Instruments-MMD4E-Moisture/dp/B00275F5O2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433023576&sr=8-1&keywords=general+moisture+meter
just bought one of these last year. Been happy so far.

[Ed Aumiller]

I bought a Delmhorst pin meter a while back for use in my solar kiln...
Lowes had the General that Jesse linked to for $10 when they were changing stock.. Had to buy it..
The General is very close to the Delmhorst and for every day use is more than adequate..

Also have a good Wagner pinless that I prefer to use in shop as it does not leave pin holes..
Do not know if the lower cost pinless meters are acceptable..

For professional use recommend the Delmhorst line of pin type meters..

[Danny Hamsley]

I dry thousands of BF of lumber. I have a kiln. So, I absolutely must know the correct moisture content. The oven method is best, but it takes a lot of time. I have a Delmhorst J2000X with the slide hammer. About a $500 set up. Also have a wagner MMC210 pinless. It is very nice and easy to use, but you must know the specific gravity of the species that you are testing. Wagner provides a listing of specific gravities for many species. This one will set you back about $400.

Like many things in woodworking, you get what you pay for in moisture meters. I would consider how much you will use one and how important it is that you get a correct reading to determine the price point that you will be satisfied with. If you work with wood a lot, and it you plan to keep working with wood for a long time, a good meter is a smart investment.

[John K Jordan]

I've had the Wagner pinless for years and like it. I cut and air dry a lot of blanks for woodturning. It does need to be held flat against the wood so it's not much good for irregular chunks of wood. Very quick to use. Changing the specific gravity or the species does take a moment. For most of my use I just want to know if the wood is air dry/somewhat dry/pretty wet/sopping wet, but those times I wanted good numbers I found it plenty accurate.

[Tom M King]

I have an old Delmhorst analog that I bought new in the early '70s that still works. It has a big slide hammer with probably a two pound cast iron slide handle, and pins that can go in up to an inch and a half. I don't use it all the time, so I always take the one or two 9 volt batteries out of it between uses. It's in a little aluminum box with a hinged lid, and under the lid is a conversion chart for different types of wood.

[Cody Colston]

Yes, price matters a lot regarding moisture meters. I had a HF pin meter, gave it to a friend and got $30 General. I ended up giving the General to another friend when I got a $100 Lignomat. Now I'm looking at the Wagner pinless that Danny listed. I'll still keep the Lignomat when I get a Wagner but I wasted my money on the HF and General meters. They were neither very accurate nor consistent.

I, too, saw my own lumber and dry it in a solar kiln. Knowing the true MC has become more and more important as my woodworking projects have evolved from birdhouses to fine furniture.

[Brad Seubert]

Yes, price matters a lot regarding moisture meters. I had a HF pin meter, gave it to a friend and got $30 General. I ended up giving the General to another friend when I got a $100 Lignomat. Now I'm looking at the Wagner pinless that Danny listed. I'll still keep the Lignomat when I get a Wagner but I wasted my money on the HF and General meters. They were neither very accurate nor consistent.

I, too, saw my own lumber and dry it in a solar kiln. Knowing the true MC has become more and more important as my woodworking projects have evolved from birdhouses to fine furniture.

I did about the same. Started with cheaper ones but found they weren't very consistent so I was always questioning whether or not the reading was right. I have a lignoamt now and am very happy with it.

[Jamie Buxton]

I have a Lignomat S. It seems kinda sketchy to me. For one thing, the readings depend on which way you hold the meter. Hold it parallel to the grain and you get one number. Turn it ninety degrees, and you get a different number. The two readings can be like 7.9 one way and 6.1 the other.

[Kevin Jenness]

Plan on spending at least $250 for a reliable meter. Delmhorst andLlignomat are the big names in pin style meters. To get an accurate MC on lumber that is drying out you need to get a reading halfway from the surface to the core. For over 4/4 that means longer pins and some way to bury them, like a slide hammer. I have an analog Delmhorst that has served me well. The digital model removes the need to manually compensate for temperature and species, and will give a summary and average of a series of readings too.

I have a Wagner as well but have never really trusted it as I get divergent readings from my pin meter and the pin meter correlates well with the oven dry method. The Wagner reads a field that is dependent on specific gravity correlated to species, and I suspect that SG variations within a species may cause my problems. I know some people swear by the pinless meters, but I believe pin meters are more commonly used by kiln operators.

To the original poster, you can get by with a scale - when your sample stops losing weight, it is at equilibrium moisture content with its surroundings. Be aware that short samples will lose moisture faster than long ones due to faster end grain moisture loss. Also, if drying lumber outside, EMC there is probably not what you want for interior use, so further drying will be necessary.

[Yonak Hawkins]

I suspect that SP variations within a species may cause my problems.

I believe this, as well. I use a lot of ash and its specific gravity, according to the Wood Database, is supposed to be .55 / .67 @ 12% MC and .60 according to the Wagner chart, but I got some recently that was in the mid .40s, which makes a big difference. To be certain, I sent it to be identified at the USDA and they reported it to be Ash, "Slow growth, Low density". Unfortunately that undermines my confidence in the accuracy of my pinless Wagner as I can't be sure of the specific gravity.

[lowell holmes]

I have and prefer the Wagner. It's a quality instrument.

[janet impson]

try Harbor Freight

[Scott T Smith]

Hi Guys, I need to get a moisture meter for some walnut logs I had cut. Tom.

You want to use a meter on Walnut logs? Don't bother. The heartwood portion of the logs will stay green until they are milled (even if it is several years).

Once the log is milled into boards a meter is appropriate. One thing to keep in mind is that moisture meters are not accurate above the fiber saturation point of wood, which is usually around 33%MC.