Multimeter or Moisture meter

[JoshNZ]

Hi Guys,

As I'm starting to near final MC of the first lumber I've milled I figure I should be getting myself some kind of moisture meter. I've been looking around, the hardware stores seem to have them for around the $80-100 NZD mark (~1/2 price in US). These types of stores seldom stock stuff for woodworker cabinetry type applications so I wonder if they'd be useless, configured to pine and softwoods for framing etc.

Another question, am I better off getting a decent multimeter and just building an attachment with points for it, and then referencing a table? I've had my eye on a good fluke meter for a while now, this would be a great excuse to tip me over.
I have a couple of general multimeters but I assume these aren't accurate enough to be reliable?

Cheers 

[btulloh]

Multimeter won't do anything for you. Resistance measured is in the 25 to 150 megohm neighborhood.  There is a way to do it with a multimeter and external battery and a couple resistors, but it's more of a science project than an accurate and convenient moisture meter. Google DIY moisture meter. 

General consensus is that the less expensive construction type moisture meters are not that accurate but better than nothing. You can get a really accurate measurement using the oven-dry method. Well documented. Google it.  An old microwave oven is good for drying the samples you'll use to compare to your kd moisture sample. 

[Ianab]

I've got a cheapie meter, and like btulloch says, don't rely on them for super accuracy. I think mine is rated for +/- 2 %, so I don't rely on it for any exact measurements. 

But if I stick it in a piece of fresh cut wood it measures 30+%, and a "dry" piece generally says 12-14%, which is "dry" in my part of NZ. So the numbers it gives seem about right, within it's stated accuracy anyway. It doesn't have calibration for different species, which likely throws the accuracy off a bit? But it does display the temperature, so I assume it's compensating for that when it measures. 

I think mine was about NZ$40 through Jaycar. I just use it for "rough and ready" measurements. If I stick it in some random boards and it reads 18-20%, leave them to dry a bit longer. Also selling firewood. "Is it dry?" Jab the meter in a chunk and it reads 15%. "Yup, that's dry ".