Today I have purchased Delmhorst J-Lite MC meter. I went immediately I tried it on some wood which were in the Klin waiting to be dried, so the result was some slabs were giving 9 and some giving 10 and some giving 7. So from my point view that my klin is doing just fine without using fan. Could any body explain to me are these reading are good for wood to be used in project or building things? If your answer is yes. Shall take the wood slabs and store them under the shade or just leave them in the Klin.
All of your readings (if accurate) indicate that it would be safe to use.
Here's the trick though--you really want them to all be the same if they will be joined together ;)
What is the thickness of your material in the kiln?
If it is greater than 2.5 cm, then you are only reading the surface moisture level.
If your material is 5 cm or greater in thickness, to accurately determine MC you need to use the hammer probe with the 2.5 cm pins or use the method of weighing the material then using calculations to determin MC. Please note that you will need to oven dry a sample before you can use these calculations.
Without fans to move the air, I strongly suspect that the inner material is not dry.
Alsayed
What is the average humidity in your area?
Thats what determines how dry your wood needs to be. In my area 12% is as dry as it gets, but in hot dry climates it may eventually dry to 6%. Either way it should now be safe to remove your wood and store it on stickers and let it adjust to the local conditions. Even if the core is still a little higher it will even itself out over a few weeks.
If you measure a piece of wood thats been in your house for a year or so, that is the number you should aim for.
Cheers
Ian
Mark,
I like the away you switched to the metric system. :D We American dudes aren't in the dark.
We turned the table with the kiln we installed in NZ. We left it running in degrees F instead of C. hmmm ::)
Den
Den,
Glad you liked that, I had to pull my TI-85 to make sure I had the numbers right. :D
I shut down my kiln this morning, my first load 8) 8), all material is at 6%, according to my Delmhorst BD2100.
It was a mixed load, BW, RO, WO, Pine, Soft Maple and Cherry. The hook was it was all at 12% when it went in, dried it to 4% in two days, then my wood furnance aquastat failed. ::) Go figure... it is a brand new unit.... Oh well, jurry rig it to get the stove back up the equalizae it for two days. Most of it is contract jobs for local woodworkers.
When I pulled into the drive this afternoon a professional woodworker was here ready to unload 4 Holly logs for milling and drying, that makes three contract jobs on the yard waiting for milling then drying. Any suggestions for drying Holly in a conventional kiln?
Got a lab oven on order I was hoping it would arrive today, but it didn't, my BOSS and new pail of Anchorseal did arrive today. Maybe tomorrow my lab oven and tir-beam ballance will arrive.... Well I can hope anyway....
Mark
Hi Mark,
Glad to hear things are going fairly well. Sorry to hear about the Holly, though. :D You have cool milling temperature on your side but it's a stinker to dry. Conventional wisdom is 'fast' to keep it white. But it's the only species I have found that I need to press in the vac kiln to keep flat. A stack of wood can end up looking like a bag of potato chips. :D
Good luck.
Den