Hi Paul, I have a 'cheapie' moisture meter, which cost about £10, which I have had for years. To be quite honest, I don't hold much store in their accuracy, to me they just give 'indicative ' values', which don't really mean anything. My biggest issue with moisture meter readings is how the programmed algorithm of the device interprets and presents the resistivity readings it gets from the material. Are these readings an average of the readings? We all know that your pieces of will be 'moister ' at the centre of log and the big question for me how representative the values of the meter are for the overall thickness of the wood. So if i'm waiting for the wood to dry to 10% to begin turning, what readings will I be getting once I open the wood up? To be honest I still use my moisture meter, but like i say, the actual values I take with a 'pinch of salt'. For more accurate estimation I use the frequent weigh and dry method, of wood drying in my converted Beko Freezer wood kiln. BTW, a well presented and thorough review. Cheers Alan
They will only give a reading based on the resistance between the prongs. I think the best way to describe it is it will be like the fractal wood burning that some people do. The wood is burning in a path which has the least resistance. They work and do give an idea when you start getting into the wood. If you're getting high readings on the outside then you know the inside is going to be a lot wetter. I tend to turn a lot of items much higher moisture content that most people probably would, but find that when you get to a finished size on the smaller items like vases or goblet etc. that the working on these with sanding etc. all dries out the wood before you have finished. Sometimes a rough turn to near finished size if the wood isn't too wet, leave it on the lathe over night and the wood is then so much drier. Shed conditions play a bog part of that, but my shed is worm even in winter.
So I'm curious if you got the meters the same time as the 10 or so other turners who did reviews about 8 weeks ago or if they are still sending them out for review? I'm sure they are good enough meters though, at least for relative comparison. Cheers, Dave
I only see their messages last week and replied then. Got the meters within a couple of days and did the review. I do like the slimline one purely for it's size and the Max option. However it does give lower readings. When you use it for some time like most things, you will get used to what is required.
Cheers for that Paul,helps a lot👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😎😎😎😎😎
You're welcome!
Hi Paul, I have a 'cheapie' moisture meter, which cost about £10, which I have had for years. To be quite honest, I don't hold much store in their accuracy, to me they just give 'indicative ' values', which don't really mean anything. My biggest issue with moisture meter readings is how the programmed algorithm of the device interprets and presents the resistivity readings it gets from the material. Are these readings an average of the readings? We all know that your pieces of will be 'moister ' at the centre of log and the big question for me how representative the values of the meter are for the overall thickness of the wood. So if i'm waiting for the wood to dry to 10% to begin turning, what readings will I be getting once I open the wood up?
To be honest I still use my moisture meter, but like i say, the actual values I take with a 'pinch of salt'. For more accurate estimation I use the frequent weigh and dry method, of wood drying in my converted Beko Freezer wood kiln.
BTW, a well presented and thorough review. Cheers Alan
They will only give a reading based on the resistance between the prongs. I think the best way to describe it is it will be like the fractal wood burning that some people do. The wood is burning in a path which has the least resistance. They work and do give an idea when you start getting into the wood. If you're getting high readings on the outside then you know the inside is going to be a lot wetter.
I tend to turn a lot of items much higher moisture content that most people probably would, but find that when you get to a finished size on the smaller items like vases or goblet etc. that the working on these with sanding etc. all dries out the wood before you have finished.
Sometimes a rough turn to near finished size if the wood isn't too wet, leave it on the lathe over night and the wood is then so much drier.
Shed conditions play a bog part of that, but my shed is worm even in winter.
So I'm curious if you got the meters the same time as the 10 or so other turners who did reviews about 8 weeks ago or if they are still sending them out for review? I'm sure they are good enough meters though, at least for relative comparison. Cheers, Dave
I only see their messages last week and replied then. Got the meters within a couple of days and did the review.
I do like the slimline one purely for it's size and the Max option. However it does give lower readings.
When you use it for some time like most things, you will get used to what is required.