# moister content



## CaptCoan (Nov 27, 2012)

I'm going to air dry some Cherry from a tree in our yard (2' thick) at what moister content is acceptable to work the wood. I know it usually take a year per inch


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## papadan (Mar 6, 2009)

You want the moisture to be at 12% or less. You could go ahead and cut that into lumber and just stack and sticker to save a lot of drying time for 2' thick wood.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

For furniture making about 7%.


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

> For furniture making about 7%.
> 
> - Loren


How do you get 7% unless you live someplace like Arizona? I have wood in my shop and in my house that been there for years and years and it's never going to be 7%. If I took that wood and kiln dry it to 7% and put it back in my house and shop it would be back to 10-12 % in a few month after equalizing to it environment. There no place in Alaska I could even buy wood that is 7%.


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## Tony_S (Dec 16, 2009)

Take this for what it's worth as I have very little experience with air dried lumber.
Given that you're in Louisiana, and I'm assuming that you're drying it outdoors, I'd be surprised if you get it much drier than 12ish. Best bet IMO is shoot for that # and then bring it indoors and let it stabilize for at least a month. I would suspect it will drop another couple of points, but not much more given the high humidity.

AG
I just measured 500 bdft of K.D 8/4 QSWO that came in yesterday. Safe bet it came from mid west usa….it ranged anywhere from 6.2 to 8.2. It will typically settle out at 7.5-8.5 in this climate…a lot depends on summer/winter humidity swings. They can be pretty drastic some years.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

I like less than 10% in Georgia. Cannot get it that low just by air drying. I agree with Tony. Air dry it then bring it inside ahead of the time that you need it and let it dry further in a heated and cooled space.

I did an experiment on some 7/8" thick red oak (skip planed) that I had air dried to 13.5%. Brought it inside the house and stickered it in an out of the way place. Measured the moisture content every couple of days and wrote that on the top boards. Beginning in March, the wood went from 13.5% to 9.5% in 5 weeks. It stayed at 9.5% all summer until September, then I finish planed it to 3/4", v-grooved it, and put it up as wainscott paneling.


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## Wildwood (Jul 22, 2012)

If go to this link and check out fig 13-1, and table 13-2 should get you in the ball park. Have to scroll dow some pages to find info!

https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr190/chapter_13.pdf

Figure 13-1. Recommended average moisture con­tent for interior use of wood products in various areas of the United States.

Table 13-2. Recommended moisture content values for various wood products at time of installation

That old 1" per foot per year only good for some types of pine but not all and no bearing on hard woods.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

The 1 year per inch of thickness rule of thumb is a poor one. But it is now an Internet Legend.


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## ArtMann (Mar 1, 2016)

If a 6 or 7 percent moisture content is essential, then how in the world did colonial woodworkers create that exquisite furniture on display in the historic town of Williamsburg, Virginia? Much of that furniture has been around for several centuries and hasn't come apart yet.


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## Wildwood (Jul 22, 2012)

Think those two charts from Wood Handbook gives you ball park moisture contents for part of the country where you live that will help. Of course don't take into account current weather conditions or relative humidity in area where you live so have to make some adjustments that.

This time of year sap running, moisture content of a freshly felled tree can exceed 100% MC so most consumer grade moisture meters useless. Two inch thick Cherry boards & moisture meter discussion not something want to get into.

End sealing, stacking & stickering, storing out of the weather off the ground for several months with just air circulation should get you where need to be.


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## Tony_S (Dec 16, 2009)

> If a 6 or 7 percent moisture content is essential, then how in the world did colonial woodworkers create that exquisite furniture on display in the historic town of Williamsburg, Virginia?


It isn't essential, It's just a general rule of thumb. The moisture content the wood settles at is determined by the average relative/ambient humidity in the general region.


> Much of that furniture has been around for several centuries and hasn t come apart yet.
> 
> - ArtMann


Bring that same stable exquisite furniture here and the tops will more than likely crack and joints loosen, as it's considerably drier here(Calgary), particularly in the winter than it is in the southern US. That's why we have a ********************ty antique market here.
All due to largely different relative/ambient humidity.


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## jimintx (Jan 23, 2014)

At my house in Houston, we run the AC runs on cool 24 hours a day for ~10 months of the year, and the heat about two, maybe three weeks out of the other two months (see note).

We have a few moisture measuring instruments around here. If we see inside humidity of less than 55-60%, we think it is wonderful.

I cannot imagine how I could get wood moisture down to <15 percent on any regular basis. Seriously?! How could I do that short of a drying kiln of some sort? What am I missing here about the moisture content of wood, and the comments about the ambient humidity?

(Note: My shop is a separate structure, but runs with almost exactly the same schedule.)


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> If a 6 or 7 percent moisture content is essential, then how in the world did colonial woodworkers create that exquisite furniture on display in the historic town of Williamsburg, Virginia? Much of that furniture has been around for several centuries and hasn t come apart yet.
> 
> - ArtMann


That furniture would have all been built from old growth lumber with dense, tight rings. I wonder how much difference there is compared to today's wood in terms of stability in varying levels of humidity. Those guys had 24" wide slabs to work with.


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## Tony_S (Dec 16, 2009)

> At my house in Houston, we run the AC runs on cool 24 hours a day for ~10 months of the year, and the heat about two, maybe three weeks out of the other two months (see note).
> 
> We have a few moisture measuring instruments around here. If we see inside humidity of less than 55-60%, we think it is wonderful.
> 
> I cannot imagine how I could get wood moisture down to <15>


This explains it better than I can
https://www.wagnermeters.com/what-is-equilibrium-moisture-content/


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> This explains it better than I can
> https://www.wagnermeters.com/what-is-equilibrium-moisture-content/
> 
> - Tony_S


Really good article. Thanks for sharing.


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## DirtyMike (Dec 6, 2015)

> The 1 year per inch of thickness rule of thumb is a poor one. But it is now an Internet Legend.
> 
> - WDHLT15


yes it is, so is the idea that 7% is ideal for furniture.


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

The article explains why I'll never see 6-7% wood in my shop. If I was a newbie and somebody told me I'd need 7% MC in my would I'd still be waiting to build the piece I build 43 years ago. Yes I've live in the same place for the last 43 years and I've never seen 6-7% wood.


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## Tony_S (Dec 16, 2009)

> That furniture would have all been built from old growth lumber with dense, tight rings. I wonder how much difference there is compared to today s wood in terms of stability in varying levels of humidity. Those guys had 24" wide slabs to work with.
> 
> - RichTaylor


Without a doubt there's some truth to that, but in my experience, it would be a small part(albeit an important part) of the whole reactive picture.
An extreme example of that would be old growth Douglas Fir. Most of the stuff that comes through the shop can range from 30 to 50 rings/inch(should be a crime to log these old behemoths, but that's a whole different topic). I've found that the wood isn't necessarily any less reactive, but it's reactivity is much more predictable in relation to cupping, cracking, expansion/contraction, etc.
But again, old growth Douglas Fir is an extreme example, and honestly, I'm not even sure how much of a reliable correlation I/we could make between an 800 year old softwood vs. a 300 year old hardwood vs. a 100 year old hardwood.
Just thinking out loud now….never mind me…


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## Carloz (Oct 12, 2016)

> For furniture making about 7%.
> 
> - Loren


Whoa !
That is new lows !


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