New product: Radom wood grip reproductions

[lugerholsterrepair]

In my small town in Colorado there was an old wood bowl turner I got to know well. He slowly dried wood logs in a closed shed and checked the moisture content with an electric meter..it gave him the percentage of moisture. Don't know the numbers he preferred but it was likely pretty low.

[Olle]

Originally Posted by lugerholsterrepair

In my small town in Colorado there was an old wood bowl turner I got to know well. He slowly dried wood logs in a closed shed and checked the moisture content with an electric meter..it gave him the percentage of moisture. Don't know the numbers he preferred but it was likely pretty low.

It don't think it's supposed to be very low, the purpose is to reach a moisture content that works well in the product's final environment (like in a house). If the wood is too dry, it will try and absorb moisture later on, which can lead to cracking and warping. Same thing can happen if it dries too quickly.

I used to work in a woodworking plant (made semi-finished cabinet parts for some of the large cabinet manufacturers) and we had our own kilns to get the moisture just right. I wasn't directly involved in this, but IIRC they steamed the wood first to get an even moisture content throughout the boards, then they used hot, moisture controlled air to gradually dry it in a controlled manner until they arrived at the desired number.