Ed Bray
Established Member
I thought I had about a dozen rough sawn Iroko planks left in the garden, and decided to put them all 'in stick' and cover the top of them.
It turned out I actually have 24x 70"x8"x1.5" and 2x 70"x10"x1.5". They have all been in the garden just stacked against the back of the garage for about 5 years since I brought them home from work. I bought a cheap moisture meter which has various settings for different types of wood, and when set to the teak, walnut, afrormosia setting (which apparently is the correct one for Iroko) I am getting readings of between 12.3% and 13.7% depending on where on the boards I am taking the reading. Even after cutting the end off one board (about 3") and sticking the pins of the moisture meter into the centre of the end grain that has just been exposed I am getting a reading of 13%.
I have taken some readings of the table I have just made from the Iroko previously machined and I am getting a readings of circa 12% in its final state before applying the finish.
I have done a search for kiln dried Iroko and it appears that this is regularly sent out at between 10% and 14% (Sydenhams).
So my query is, if kiln dried wood is sent out between 10% and 14%, would you then expect it to acclimatise more before using it, and if so, how long would you wait until using it or what percentage of moisture would you want it to be before machining it?
I suspect that if I machine the wood into planed and thicknessed boards and remove all the rough surfaces the boards will be less able to absorb or give off moisture due to the reduced surface area, is this thinking correct? Or should I just do what I would have done before I got the moisture meter and just stick the planks I intend to use in the garage for a couple of weeks until the surface is dry and then use them as I need?
TIA.
It turned out I actually have 24x 70"x8"x1.5" and 2x 70"x10"x1.5". They have all been in the garden just stacked against the back of the garage for about 5 years since I brought them home from work. I bought a cheap moisture meter which has various settings for different types of wood, and when set to the teak, walnut, afrormosia setting (which apparently is the correct one for Iroko) I am getting readings of between 12.3% and 13.7% depending on where on the boards I am taking the reading. Even after cutting the end off one board (about 3") and sticking the pins of the moisture meter into the centre of the end grain that has just been exposed I am getting a reading of 13%.
I have taken some readings of the table I have just made from the Iroko previously machined and I am getting a readings of circa 12% in its final state before applying the finish.
I have done a search for kiln dried Iroko and it appears that this is regularly sent out at between 10% and 14% (Sydenhams).
So my query is, if kiln dried wood is sent out between 10% and 14%, would you then expect it to acclimatise more before using it, and if so, how long would you wait until using it or what percentage of moisture would you want it to be before machining it?
I suspect that if I machine the wood into planed and thicknessed boards and remove all the rough surfaces the boards will be less able to absorb or give off moisture due to the reduced surface area, is this thinking correct? Or should I just do what I would have done before I got the moisture meter and just stick the planks I intend to use in the garage for a couple of weeks until the surface is dry and then use them as I need?
TIA.
