Last weekend I bought some rough 4/4 air dried red and white oak.
First time buying air dried and delighted with the price - $1/ft. The
fellow that sold it (old guy with a wood mizer) said he guessed it was
about 15% moisture content - been drying in his barn a couple years.
Anyway, to get it acclimated to house conditions before I use it I
stickered it in my basement by the furnace where it's about 50% rel
humidity, 68 degrees. How long do you think I should wait? Don't have
a moisture meter, however a 15lb board (per the bathroom scale) dropped
a pound in four days. I live in NW Indiana, if that matters.

Thanks,
Steve

Personally, I'd jump on one of those 30 buck moisture meters that
several catalogs have for sale...McFeely's and Lee Valley come to mind.

Hi Steve,
If it was indeed air dried for a couple of years and is 4/4 it should be
as dry as it is going to get from air drying. I have some in same situation
and it is 8 - 10%. After being stickered in my heated non humidified shop
for a week or two at this time of year, it drops a per cent or two.
I agree with Charlie, spend the money for a moisture meter. If it's
dropped almost 7% in a week I would doubt it was 15% to start with. Cheers,
JG

Steve wrote:

Last weekend I bought some rough 4/4 air dried red and white oak.
First time buying air dried and delighted with the price - $1/ft. The
fellow that sold it (old guy with a wood mizer) said he guessed it was
about 15% moisture content - been drying in his barn a couple years.
Anyway, to get it acclimated to house conditions before I use it I
stickered it in my basement by the furnace where it's about 50% rel
humidity, 68 degrees. How long do you think I should wait? Don't have
a moisture meter, however a 15lb board (per the bathroom scale) dropped
a pound in four days. I live in NW Indiana, if that matters.

Thanks,
Steve

"Steve" wrote in message
ups.com...
Last weekend I bought some rough 4/4 air dried red and white oak.
First time buying air dried and delighted with the price - $1/ft. The
fellow that sold it (old guy with a wood mizer) said he guessed it was
about 15% moisture content - been drying in his barn a couple years.
Anyway, to get it acclimated to house conditions before I use it I
stickered it in my basement by the furnace where it's about 50% rel
humidity, 68 degrees. How long do you think I should wait? Don't have
a moisture meter, however a 15lb board (per the bathroom scale) dropped
a pound in four days. I live in NW Indiana, if that matters.


Book answer is one per cent per week, which would bring a prospective 15% to
the 10 in the house in five weeks. Real answer is to crosscut one of those
boards., whack out a 1x2x2 chunk, weigh, and then microwave lightly until it
loses weight no more, then compute. That said, I'd have no problems working
it in three, since you're going to be 12 % or more summer average in Indiana
anyway.

One of the 30 dollar moisture meters? Not sure how meaningful that is when
there's no other choice available. Sort of like the micrometers folks use
to see how far out of adjustment something is - interesting to know, but
doesn't get it to right.

On 10 Feb 2005 18:57:46 -0800, "Steve" wrote:

Last weekend I bought some rough 4/4 air dried red and white oak.
First time buying air dried and delighted with the price - $1/ft. The
fellow that sold it (old guy with a wood mizer) said he guessed it was
about 15% moisture content - been drying in his barn a couple years.
Anyway, to get it acclimated to house conditions before I use it I
stickered it in my basement by the furnace where it's about 50% rel
humidity, 68 degrees. How long do you think I should wait? Don't have
a moisture meter, however a 15lb board (per the bathroom scale) dropped
a pound in four days. I live in NW Indiana, if that matters.

Thanks,
Steve


How did you weigh the board? Bathroom scales or a laboratory scale?

If you used a bath scale the accuracy of the scale is poo and your
results are not valid.

In terms of percentage, well you're better off with a meter. Otherwise,
weigh a
piece and once it stabilizes in weight, you should be pretty close. How
long to
stabilize, you got me! As for "acclimating" once you think it's pretty
dry, cut your
stock to rough dimensions and let it sit for a week or so in your shop.
Then cut to your final dimensions.
I hate it when I cut/plane/etc...something and a week later it's warped
etc...
Cheers,
cc

"Steve" wrote in message
ups.com...
Last weekend I bought some rough 4/4 air dried red and white oak.
First time buying air dried and delighted with the price - $1/ft. The
fellow that sold it (old guy with a wood mizer) said he guessed it was
about 15% moisture content - been drying in his barn a couple years.
Anyway, to get it acclimated to house conditions before I use it I
stickered it in my basement by the furnace where it's about 50% rel
humidity, 68 degrees. How long do you think I should wait? Don't have
a moisture meter, however a 15lb board (per the bathroom scale) dropped
a pound in four days. I live in NW Indiana, if that matters.

Thanks,
Steve