David Wadstrup
01-29-2022, 4:51 PM
Hello,
I cannot wrap my head around this and would love some advice. Does anyone here have a grasp on the logic of determining whether a piece of wood is dry by monitoring its weight? I have a number of small-ish pieces of boxwood that I've been periodically weighing for the last 10 months. They came to me "semi-dry," and were previously stored outdoors, but under cover -- in an unheated shed, I think.
I weighed them in grams for the first time in early April '21. I weighed them a second time in early June, at which point they all had LOST a little weight. I attribute this loss in weight to me bringing them indoors. I weighed them again in August and they had all GAINED a little weight. I attribute this to the humidity of summer. I forgot about them for a while and re-weighed them all in December, at which point they had LOST weight. I attribute this to winter's dryness. And I weighed them again just now. They all LOSS even more weight and now weigh even less that they did when I first weighed them back in April. I should note that I live in Maine and have no control over the forced air heat in my upper floor apartment. It's usually in the low to mid 70's indoors(which I hate) and my hygrometer reads 10% pretty much all of the time(I don't think it goes lower as I've never seen a reading in the single digits.) This is all to say that it is warm and DRY. The wood is stored on a wire rack.
I conclude from this trend that my boxwood is dry and ready to use -- that the variations in weight I've noticed are due to seasonal fluctuations in relative humidity rather than the wood continuing to dry. I believe this because all pieces GAINED weight in summer's humidity(between June and August) and LOST it again with the onset of winter. Is my conclusion correct? I am unsure because I wonder if I have enough data. Today's weights are all lower than they have ever been, but my first weighing took place in April and after they were brought indoors. Does a piece of wood that GAINS weight in the summer indicate that it is dry and ready to use? Do I need to see another season of weight gain to be sure? I ask because I'd really like to get these pieces of wood out of my living room. I'd like to box them up and put them in storage. Moving environments, and storing them in a cardboard box would, of course, mean I couldn't weigh them again as my readings would then not have a relationship to the ones I've been making for the last 10 months. I don't need to use them at present as I'm still looking for shop space. Can I assume they are "dry," box them up, and not worry about it?
Has anyone here ever judged dryness by regular weighing? And, if so, can you please explain the process to me?
Thanks very much!
I cannot wrap my head around this and would love some advice. Does anyone here have a grasp on the logic of determining whether a piece of wood is dry by monitoring its weight? I have a number of small-ish pieces of boxwood that I've been periodically weighing for the last 10 months. They came to me "semi-dry," and were previously stored outdoors, but under cover -- in an unheated shed, I think.
I weighed them in grams for the first time in early April '21. I weighed them a second time in early June, at which point they all had LOST a little weight. I attribute this loss in weight to me bringing them indoors. I weighed them again in August and they had all GAINED a little weight. I attribute this to the humidity of summer. I forgot about them for a while and re-weighed them all in December, at which point they had LOST weight. I attribute this to winter's dryness. And I weighed them again just now. They all LOSS even more weight and now weigh even less that they did when I first weighed them back in April. I should note that I live in Maine and have no control over the forced air heat in my upper floor apartment. It's usually in the low to mid 70's indoors(which I hate) and my hygrometer reads 10% pretty much all of the time(I don't think it goes lower as I've never seen a reading in the single digits.) This is all to say that it is warm and DRY. The wood is stored on a wire rack.
I conclude from this trend that my boxwood is dry and ready to use -- that the variations in weight I've noticed are due to seasonal fluctuations in relative humidity rather than the wood continuing to dry. I believe this because all pieces GAINED weight in summer's humidity(between June and August) and LOST it again with the onset of winter. Is my conclusion correct? I am unsure because I wonder if I have enough data. Today's weights are all lower than they have ever been, but my first weighing took place in April and after they were brought indoors. Does a piece of wood that GAINS weight in the summer indicate that it is dry and ready to use? Do I need to see another season of weight gain to be sure? I ask because I'd really like to get these pieces of wood out of my living room. I'd like to box them up and put them in storage. Moving environments, and storing them in a cardboard box would, of course, mean I couldn't weigh them again as my readings would then not have a relationship to the ones I've been making for the last 10 months. I don't need to use them at present as I'm still looking for shop space. Can I assume they are "dry," box them up, and not worry about it?
Has anyone here ever judged dryness by regular weighing? And, if so, can you please explain the process to me?
Thanks very much!