moisture content question....

[Knucklefish]

Just got a new moisture meter. I have some cherry bowls blanks that were green turned and then processed in alcohol and are set to dry. They are about 14% "wet" now. My question is what moisture level is acceptable before I finish turning them? I appreciate your expert advice....

 

[LandfillLumber]

You are just fine at 14% furniture grade lumber that you have glue joints in is only dried to 6-8%(your not far off that).You may get a very slight movement of the wood but no will ever know it in the round.The drier the wood the harder the turn,that is my 2 cents,Victor

 

[lorbay]

I get all of my bowls to 6-8 %.

Lin.

 

[MesquiteMan]

If you want utmost stability in the wood you are using, you really need to know what the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) is for your given area. 14% in one area may be fine but not good in another area. A 14% moisture content is fine if your average humidity is 75%. Here is a calculator for determining the EMC for a given humidity and temp. http://www.woodworkerssource.com/moisture.php

And here is a good article on EMC and wood movement: http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2010/09/03/moisture-content-wood-movement/

Now granted, you are just making a bowl so a little movement will not hurt you, like Victor says above.

Also, depending on the moisture meter you are using, be sure to correct the reading based on species. You should have a chart in your manual that shows the correction procedures. This is because most moisture meters are calibrated for Doug Fir and different species of wood have different specific gravities, affecting the moisture meter's readings.

Again, this is all if you want utmost precision. I am a little bit into technical accuracy so these types of things are important to me! Then again, I have a $400 moisture meter that i can input the specific gravity of the wood I am measuring and it will automatically correct for that species.

 

[Knucklefish]

Very Helpful

Thanks all. Curtis, your info was very helpful. I looked at the EMC chart (attached) on the website you recommended and it turns out for Little Rock, the EMC averages between 12.8-13.9% (depending upon what month). So I think that means it may not get much dryer than it is now. I am going to monitor it for a week or two and see what happens. BTW...all my wood is kept in the garage so the EMC will probably vary more than if it was kept inside. Make sense?

 

[bradh]

This is an important fact that Curtis brings up. Dryer is not always better.
If you dry wood to 6% and then expose the unprotected wood to an area where the average mositure content is 18%, it is possible that the piece will warp or crack as it gains moisture to stabilizes at this higher moisture content level.