Moisture Meter

[Mike.C]

I am after a moisture meter and I am wondering if anyone has got/tried one of these

http://www.digital-meters.com/store/pro ... 349&page=1

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axmi ... -22683.htm

http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Moisture-M ... tegory=308

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wood-Moisture-M ... B000S0N3FG

http://www.coleparmer.co.uk/catalog/pro ... ku=8653104

http://www.digital-meters.com/store/pro ... 349&page=1

If not any recommendations would be appreciated.

Cheers

Mike

 

[CHJ]

Mike, I think you need to indicate for what purpose you require the meter, to get a meaningful recommendation from the professionals.

I have the basic MD2G meter for checking green timber for turning suitability and for that it is fine and gives a good enough general indication that allows me to judge a particular pieces suitability for my type of turning.

But if you need one for in depth assessment of prime timber for cabinet making etc. then I would suspect you require one catering for the input of wood species specific gravity etc.

 

[Mike.C]

CHJ wrote,

Mike, I think you need to indicate for what purpose you require the meter, to get a meaningful recommendation from the professionals.

I have the basic MD2G meter for checking green timber for turning suitability and for that it is fine and gives a good enough general indication that allows me to judge a particular pieces suitability for my type of turning.

But if you need one for in depth assessment of prime timber for cabinet making etc. then I would suspect you require one catering for the input of wood species specific gravity etc.

Thanks Chas, I do need one that will tell me if the wood is dry enough for furniture making.

From what you say if I need wood species input, looking at the above again, I think that rules these out

Cheers

Mike

 

[Ian]

Hi Mike

I have one similar to this

http://www.wmsconsulting.co.uk/mmc205.htm

great job no pins and measures about 12mm into the wood.

Ian

 

[Paul.J]

Mike.
I have the Axminster one you have listed.
Couldn't tell you how accurate it is,just gives an idea i suppose.

 

[pooka]

I have a moisture meter/metre on the list of tools that I might like to buy at some point in the future so I have kept note of some reviews as I have come across them. My personal preference would be for a pinless meter, so I have mainly kept track of reviews of this type of meter only. Unfortunately, these also happen to be the more expensive type.

Wagner MMC220 :

* There is a review of the Wagner MMC220 pinless meter here, which basically says it is a good quality product.

* It is available from Amazon here for US$290 (plus shipping). I think this one is available from Amazon for delivery to Europe (but they will probably "pre-charge" you VAT when you buy the product, so you'll have to factor an extra 21% plus into the cost - always something you have to do anyway when importing from outside the EU but at least sometimes there is the chance that something may not be billed for but not in this case by the looks of it). The Amazon link includes some user reviews.

* There is a discussion of this meter on an Australian forum here which might be of interest as it also refers to some other products (in addition to baulking at the price of the Wagner!).

Wagner MMC210 :

* Summary review from Taunton is here.

* Available from LeeValley for US$290 here.

Wagner MMC205 :

* Summary review from Taunton is here.

* Available from Amazon for US$170 here. I haven't checked, but I would imagine the same rules apply for VAT, etc., as for the MMC220.


Those are not necessarily the best sources, or prices, for those particular meters, they just happen to be some links that I have to hand. There is a wider selection of moisture meters listed/reviewed by Taunton here (just enter "moisture" in the search box and it will throw back a list) - these are American-centric but I would expect quite a few of them to be widely available online.

I think that I have seen some people on here refer to having one of the Wagner meters in the past so there are likely to be references to one or more models available via the forum search facility.

 

[Mike.C]

Thanks guys, there's a huge difference in prices between the ones in my links and those that deal with different species of timbers

I found this model on Axminster http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Veri ... -22800.htm which seems to at least let you adjust the input for different timbers. Has anyone used one of these?

Cheers

Mike

 

[tnimble]

Recently I saw David Marks use a moister meter to check a huge slab is it was ready to be dimensioned. The unit has only a few LEDs, the pointy spikes was uncompensated for species and looked cheap. (Perhaps he'd used it only for the episode and normally uses an expensive unit)

(for years I've been and am still looking for a descent but non expensive meter to check if lumber is ready to be sawn and planed for cabinates and stuff)

 

[Mike.C]

tnimble wrote,

Recently I saw David Marks use a moister meter to check a huge slab is it was ready to be dimensioned. The unit has only a few LEDs, the pointy spikes was uncompensated for species and looked cheap. (Perhaps he'd used it only for the episode and normally uses an expensive unit)

(for years I've been and am still looking for a descent but non expensive meter to check if lumber is ready to be sawn and planed for cabinates and stuff)

I have just watched the same video myself and I agree it looks like a cheap device. http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/pac_ctnt_ ... 27,00.html
As you say whether he uses it normally I do not know.

Showing my ignorance a bit here, but considering the big differences in prices does having the species input really make a big difference? What I mean to say is if you get an accurate meter that tells your piece of timber is between 6 and 12 percent, cannot you not be confident enough to use it for making a piece of furniture?
I suppose what I am really asking is what do you gain by having the species input?

As I said above I found this one on Axminster http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Veri ... -22800.htm Has anyone got one of these?

Cheers

Mike

 

[DaveL]

Mike,

I have one of the Timber Check meters. Not compared it with anything else but it gives a good indication as to how wet the wood is. I use it to compare boards, making sure all of the stock is at the same content.

Just done a search and looking at this thread I must of had it for 4 years now, must be enjoying myself as time has flown by.

 

[Mike.C]

Many thanks for the link Dave. I think if I cannot get anymore info on these devices I will get the Timber Check.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Mike

I found this model on Axminster http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Veri ... -22800.htm which seems to at least let you adjust the input for different timbers. Has anyone used one of these?

Quite a number of us on here have this and it is very good. They also give you an extra set of pins.

Axminster have the name Veritas in the url but please note that, although it is made in Canada, it is not a Veritas product.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[PaulO]

Showing my ignorance a bit here, but considering the big differences in prices does having the species input really make a big difference? What I mean to say is if you get an accurate meter that tells your piece of timber is between 6 and 12 percent, cannot you not be confident enough to use it for making a piece of furniture?
Mike

The pin meters measure resistance not moisture content, to translate that into moisture content you need to take into account the species of timber, which is why they should provide correction tables. So you don't necessarily need the ability to set the species type on the meter.

For a given species any meter will tell you if piece A is wetter than piece B, whether or not you can trust the absolute reading is highly debatable. Particularly when you consider that any piece of wood has a range of moisture content, generally drier on the outside and wetter in the middle.

I would say that a pinned meter is more accurate, and it is what timber yards use when checking kiln dried stock. Pinless meters require good surface contact, which can be a problem with rough sawn stock.

 

[PaulO]

Quite a good article explaining it here:

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Electric_Moisture_Meters.html

 

[pooka]

LeeValley also sell the Timber Check Moisture Meter and very usefully have a link to the usage instructions on their page. These instructions include a description of how this meter can be used to take the wood species being tested into account (I presume they are referring to Specific Gravity here) - they provide a table with the meter for this purpose. It looks like a well thought out meter.

The company that make the meter seem to be ComProTec Canada and their site too has quite a bit of info on this meter. One page that I found particularly interesting is this one which talks about pinless meters versus pin-type meters. They are obviously biased in favour of their own product, but some of the anti-pinless statements they make seem to make a lot of sense. It certainly gives food for thought if nothing else.

 

[Mike.C]

Brilliant Paul and Pooka, thats exactly the sort of info I needed to understand why you need at least a species guide. There is some excellent information in those links, and I think the Timber Check is just the ticket.

Newbie Neil wrote,

Axminster have the name Veritas in the url but please note that, although it is made in Canada, it is not a Veritas product.

Strange and a bit misleading, and it isn't as if it is a recent mistake by Axminster because in DaveL's link it seems that they were still claiming it is made by Veritas 4 years ago back in 2004 :roll:

Neil, thanks for the recommendation, I am off to order one now :lol:

Cheers

Mike

 

[tnimble]

What I still do not comprehend completely how the pin type meters can be used other than with very tough wood. According to all resources about pin type meters the pins are not tiny pints that are pressed a bit aginast or into the surface of the wood. They have to be forced quite deep into the wood.

A few holes on the end of a piece is not that bad but series of holes right in the middle along the length of about 5mm deep? :shock:

 

[Mike.C]

tnimble wrote,

What I still do not comprehend completely how the pin type meters can be used other than with very tough wood. According to all resources about pin type meters the pins are not tiny pints that are pressed a bit aginast or into the surface of the wood. They have to be forced quite deep into the wood.

A few holes on the end of a piece is not that bad but series of holes right in the middle along the length of about 5mm deep?

I cannot see the need for making a series of holes along the length of the timber. Most of the time I will just cut a piece off and test the freshly sawn end/s, and then test one area somewhere around the middle of the plank. But not having used many meters, and this being the first decent one, I would like to know how other members test their timber?

Obviously if you own a pin less model you can make as many tests as you want, but what about those with pins, do you do as tnimble mentions, make a series of holes along the length of the timber?

Cheers

Mike

 

[tnimble]

I cannot see the need for making a series of holes along the length of the timber. ....

Its what most or not all of the manuals say. Test the wod at least 4 geet away from the ends and take more than one reading. For pieces smaller than 4 feet test the middle of the piece.

For instance when a piece is 10 feet long following the above you'll end up with a series of holes at about 4 feet in from each side and maybe also right in the middle of the piece.

Also if the piece was thicker you're often advised to test both side. Having holes about 5mm deep on each side loosing you roughly more than a centimetre of wood even if the bow of the board was very little.


For a bowl turner this would be no problem if you plan to measure where you're going to hollow out the bowl.

 

[Mike.C]

tnimble I am not saying you are wrong, and if the manual states that then it appears that you are not. I was simple saying that when I have checked timber in the past that it how I have did it. Hence the reason for asking others how they check their's

Now you have me thinking if I have made a mistake buying a pin type meter :roll:

Cheers

Mike