tattwo
Well-known member
What should the moisture content of wood be before you use it in a build? Is there a cheap meter on the market that works well? Or is there another way to tell.
Thanks Terry
Thanks Terry
I'm not sure green wood should ever be cut for ukulele sets. You'll wind up with something resembling a stack of potato chips. At the same time I don't like resawing too dry, it takes too much effort. For koa I found that somewhere about 15% is right for my setup. If you must cut green, cut the thickness in half then dry it some more before resawing.
For building, my wood is at somewhere between 6% and 7%. You might be able to get away with it as high as 10% but I think you might be taking some chances. I use a Wagner pinless moisture meter but it's $200. I only bought the pinless type (which is more expensive) because when you are buying wood from someone and measuring the moisture, they don't take kindly to you poking holes in it. Another nice feature of the more expensive models is in being able to calibrate the meter for different species of wood. It's simple to build a dry box/cabinet, any size you want to dry and store your wood in. I keep a small dehumidifier in mine but the same results can be had with a light bulb and a way of keeping the air moving (convection, small fan, etc.)
What if it gets wet again? like floods, leaking roof, or soaking before bending ? and using water based stain etc: