[DocSavage45]

Hey LJ's ,

Another ignorant question? LOL!

Had a recent discussion with Matt Cremona. He owns an Expensive Wagner inductive type moisture meter. almost 400 dollars? Not making enough in woodworking to warrent it. After talking with Matt I decided to check out Amazon and found a RisePro Wood Moisture Meter inductive type that had an excellent review.

It is calibrated for many of the common woods woodworkers often use. It operates on wood density, temperature and pre calibrated values.

There is a small instruction manual and a chart of the woods it is calibrated to measure. The woods are grouped into a gear 1-8.

I just purchased a pick up load of hard maple from CharlieK after he had sold the majority so he gave me a good price.

The wood is now on a drying rack in my basement. Guess what ! Hard Maple isn't in any of the category's in the gears! Did a Google search but it's becoming more convoluted, sooooo I thought I'd check with the smart, experienced folk here. Yes I did a check on the site and found little on moisture meters.


Again your comments and thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

 

[a1Jim]

Hi Tom
Interesting that they have it broken down into types of wood ,I've always just operated on the ideal 8% mosture content but depending what you're making you can get away with higher moisture content. Not much I can say about that brand my moisture meter,mine cost $400 also.

 

[DocSavage45]

Thanks! Jim take care of that meter. :<)

 

[CajunWoodArtist]

Hey Tom…
I have a Lingomat pin type moisture meter that I paid around $90. It has worked flawlessly and for everything I do it has been ideal. 8% to 10% always seems to be the number strive for and its readings have not given me any problems at all.
I'm not sure what a $400+ moisture can accomplish in my shop that a $90 one cannot do.
I have always seen other brands advertised at much lower prices…but I really didn't think it was wise to buy something really cheap.
Get the best you can afford

 

[RichT]

I've been researching this extensively. First the reason the Wagner is $400 is that it's pinless and in order to get accurate readings, you need very sophisticated electronics. Most inexpensive pinless meters give readings that are all over the charts, and generally not even consistent when making repeated readings on the same spot on the same board. They are completely flummoxed by surface moisture as well.

Lignomat makes pinless capacitive meters for around $240 that are respectable performers. The very low end ones like the General Tools MMD7NP are really only suitable for detecting leaks around the house. Basically, if there's moisture present, they'll tell you, but aren't up to snuff for woodworkers.

Pin type meters like the Lignomat Greg mentioned are the way to go if money is an issue.

Moisture Meter Experts is a good source for information.

 

[DocSavage45]

Hey Greg,

Thanks for your input.

 

[DocSavage45]

Rich,

Guess I was not as in depth as you in researching before purchasing thanks for your input.

 

[RichT]

Rich,

Guess I was not as in depth as you in researching before purchasing thanks for your input.

- DocSavage45

I think you made a good choice for the money, Doc. Yours is an inductive meter and they saved money in its design by having you enter the density factor for the wood. The online Wood Database lists the densities for almost every species of wood. It gives wood densities in kg/m³ which is 1000 times the g/cm³ (g/cc) that the categories on your meter are based on. For example, it lists hard maple at 705 kg/m³ which would be 0.705 g/cm³ which you should be able to make your gear setting based on.

Edit: Looking closer at the wood database, it appears that the value for the specific gravity at 12% MC value is the easiest to use. It's 1/1000th of the density I mentioned above, but it's right there and doesn't require any fiddling.

Here's the page for hard maple: http://www.wood-database.com/hard-maple Like I said, you can take the density in kg/m³ and divide by 1000, or just use the second specific gravity number (0.71) which is the value for 12% MC.

 

[DocSavage45]

There were negative comments but not about accuracy. One particular comment was that it gave the same measure as a more expensive meter although the meter wasent mentioned. Greg's meter is 10 bucks more now. The criticism that came up several times was using the longer pins and the stability of the case.

Thanks for the update Rich

 

[doubleDD]

Hi Tom. I have a Delmhorst and it says if the wood your testing isn't on the chart they tell you to use the default setting. Maybe the one you have works the same?

 

[DocSavage45]

Dave,

No default. They call it a gear. 1 to 8 pre set. Or there is a whole section on calculation. Rich's info was enlightening. I checked out the wood data base and I can see what relative densities are.

Thanks!

 

[WDHLT15]

I have a Wagner pinless. Use a specific gravity of .62 for hard maple.

 

[CharlieK]

Have fun with all that maple, Tom!

 

[AZWoody]

Thanks for posting this. I've been looking at various ones and haven't seen this one yet.
Usually anything in that price range has just a hardwood and softwood setting.

I'm going to have to try it out.

 

[DocSavage45]

AZWoody,

It has features that are pretty good for not a lot of money. I usually read the 1 star reviews first. The 4 star reviews were the most informative. It's made in china. The instructions are clear. It just didn't have hard Maple or otherwise known as Acer. The negative reviews on Greg's meter which is pin type were about the quality/strength of the case when using longer pins.

A weakness noted on this meter is it's battery contacts. It uses a nine volt battery.

 

[DocSavage45]

Hey Charlie ! How do you check your wood for moisture?

Have fun out there learning new stuff!

 

[DocSavage45]

Danny,

I see you're out there being a sawyer. You mentioned being a woodworker as well? Like to see some of your work. Thanks for the number!

 

[Dovetail_Tendonitise]

Lignomat is what I have had for 15 years or more, pin style. reads what every the wood is. No fail on the same pins. Best of luck.

 

[WDHLT15]

Doc,

Go to my website, hamsleyhardwood.com. Go to the lumber for sale page. Go to Miscellaneous Items and Projects. There, you will see a number of my woodworking projects.

 

[DocSavage45]

Thanks Dan!