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My brand new moisture meter was reading 25% on dry lumber
Picked up a cheap meter from Amazon for like 30 bucks. Tested some kiln-dried oak I had sitting in my shop for 6 months and it said 25%. Grabbed my buddy's expensive pinless meter and it read 8%. The cheap thing was just measuring surface moisture from my humid shop in Portland. Anyone else get burned by a budget tool from a random seller?
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erickelly5d ago
Hold up, 25 percent on kiln-dried oak? That's wild. I had a similar thing happen with a cheap pin meter I got off a random Facebook ad, it was telling me my walnut was at 20% when it was clearly bone dry. Took it back to the lumber yard and their good meter said 7%. Those cheap meters just pick up humidity in the air or on the surface, they're basically useless for anything real. Makes you wonder how many people are out there ruining projects because their tool lied to them.
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theajohnson5d ago
Actually some cheap meters are fine if you calibrate them right and compensate for wood species and temperature.
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wells.christopher5d ago
Oh man, I've been there too - my cheap meter once told me some maple was at 18% and it turned out to be 6% when I double-checked with a pro tool. @young.michael, it really is the end of the world when your whole project warps or cracks because you trusted a bad reading.
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