[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.

 

[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.

 

[RichT]

Andrew, PM me with an email and I can send you a PDF of the user manual.

Here's the crux of the matter of using that meter. It has eight "gears" and which one you select depends on the density of the wood. I wrote about it in a previous post in this thread, but basically, you can go to the wood database and look up the wood you're measuring. Look for the line that says "Specific Gravity (Basic, 12% MC)" and choose the value on the right for 12%. For example red alder is 0.45. Then you can look it up on the chart to see what gear to use.

Here are the gear ranges (gear on the left, density on the right):

1: 0.27 - 0.36
2: 0.38 - 0.45
3: 0.45 - 0.55
4: 0.55 - 0.65
5: 0.65 - 0.75
6: 0.75 - 0.85
7: 0.85 - 0.95
8: 0.95 - 1.05

P.S. Read my previous post regarding why I'm using specific gravity rather than density in kg/m3. Basically it's the same value only you don't have to do any arithmetic.

 

[RichT]

to get that Scale Setting = 10.3 x Density (g/cm3) - 2.2462

- BobAnderton

Bob, what you've shown is of major value to Rise Pro owners like me. Not only can I program that equation into my PCalc calculator and never need the chart again but, more importantly, it shows the linearity within a gear range. From looking at your graph, I can see that a wood with a density of 0.43 will likely have a MC approximately 60% of the distance in readings between gears 2 and 3. I'd found the large steps in the displayed MC to be a real weakness of the meter, but now I can visualize something a little more continuous. I'm sure it's not exact, but it does offer some improvement over the steps alone.

 

[RichT]

You can't just stick a pin meter in the face of the board and get a good reading. All you're measuring is the MC in the outer fraction of an inch. To get an accurate reading with a pin meter, you need to saw off a few inches from the end of the board and measure it there. That will be an accurate reading of the MC.