What with all that lumber perched in my newly-constructed lumber rack, I’ve decided to monitor the humidity level in my shop now that fall has arrived in the Great Northwest. For those of you who have done the same, what’s the humidity reading like in your shop? — especially the area where you either store lumber that’s about to be worked, or have in-process stock scattered about.
forestgirl — you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can’t take the forest out of the girl 😉
Replies
Forest Girl,
I have a shop basement, but it's good and dry. Has both heat and AC, as well as humidification and dehumidification (all this courtesy of the house.) It's been raining most of the week, so I checked today to be sure all was sell. 48% humidity and 67 degrees.
Jeff
I'm jealous, 'nuf said. Wow.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Outside NYC, the RH in my garage varies from about 75-80% in the summer to about 25% in the winter. In the basement, the range is about the same
For raw wood, the MC ranges from 11-12% in the summer to 5-6%
This is fun! Mine was 66% yesterday. I'm going to check 1st thing in the morning, then again just before I fire up the wood stove, then as I'm leaving and the stove has just shut down, see how much it varies.
Looking forward to following this through the winter, when it rains or drizzles most of the time. Misery loves company, so those of you who live in similar environs can empathize.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Jamie -
I'd be curious to find out how heating affects the humidity in your shop. Warm air holds more moisture than cold air although a wood stove does produce a dryer heat than say, a gas furnace.
Often when the temps dip way, way down (can you say current cold spell) the humidity outside is lower than it is indoors in the heated environment. I notice it a lot more these years as working outdoors in the winter really dries out my hands.
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Thanks for the info on warm vs. cold air and the humidity. I didn't think about that as a compounding factor. It is cold today, relatively speaking of course. When I get a couple of good heating days in out there, I'll let you know what the effect seemed to be. Sig-o's home this weekend, so as is typical I probably won't get that kind of time in the shop before Monday or Tuesday.
So I guess if it's cold and dry, the wood probably likes that, yes??forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Well, I'm not in a position to say what wood "likes" .... hehe. I suspects it's comfy with whatever environment it's in. I worked out in the front yard all day today building some new rockery walls around raised planters and I can sure feel the dryness on my face. No idea what the RH was/is but it must've been pretty low. In spite of the warm temps. There was a cold north wind that didn't help one bit, either.
Do you have a moisture meter for measuring the moisture content of your lumber?
After reading all the information here in the discussion group with respect to how sensitive wood is to changes in RH, I'm wondering if the ideal situation would be to move all the raw material for a project to the client's place, leave it there for two+ months them move in with them and build everything in place on location. Then have them sign a release/waiver stating that they will *never* allow the temperature or RH to vary from what it was when the project was finished (just kidding!)
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Hi Dennis and all
It sounds funny the way you put it, but that’s just what hardwood flooring installers do. When you deliver the wood to a house, you stab some wood that has been in the house for along time, to find out what the ambient moisture content is. Along the coast of southern California (where I work) it is usually around 12%. The flooring is 6% to 8% so you have to wait till it comes up to ambient. Usually to weeks is good. Then just when you thank you’ve got it all figured out a Santa Ana wind comes from the desert and lowers it to what seems like 2%. So then you start all over again. And also the phone starts to ring with complaints from all my customers that their floors are shrinking. Luckily Santa Ana’s only last for about 3 days and come only in the spring.
That reminds me of one of the reasons why I don’t install flooring anymore.
Some times you can here wood cracking in the shop when the winds come. I used to make maple workbenches and we had some tops split on the ends, so are solution was to pour water on some sawdust on the floor and bring up the moisture in the shop. Don’t laugh it works
Jeff in so cal and it's spring time
Edited 10/12/2002 10:41:45 PM ET by FLOMAN47
Oh, those Santa Ana winds!! How well I remember them! (I was actually, truly and honestly born in Santa Ana, ha! I remember trying to walk to school one day when I was like 11 or thereabouts and pretty much standing still at full exertion. Made the janitors' jobs easier though. All the litter in the entire school yard would blow up against the chainlink fence.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
When I first moved to Boulder, in 1974, I overheard two women in a store talking about the wind. One of them said when she was a little girl walking to school, sometimes she would have to lie down and hold on the grass to keep from getting blown away.
I've heard of people getting knocked down, but I haven't seen any little kids rolling down the street like a tumbleweed yet.
>"Do you have a moisture meter for measuring the moisture content of your lumber? " I wish. That took a back seat to the 2 routers, the jointer, the planer, the superb crosscut blade (which I don't have yet), yada yada.....
I will get one though, probably within the next year. Next big chunk of change goes for a Veritas router tabletop and fence. In the meantime, I'll just have to take my chances with the limited amount of lumber I'll be buying. I want to get a "really good" moisture meter, which looks like it's gonna be in, what?, the $225+ range??? It's not something I want to buy more than once, for sure.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Do moisture meters really work? (perhaps a topic for another thread??)
I've never understood how sticking a couple probes an inch or so apart on the surface of a piece of wood 2" thick x 8" wide and who-knows-how-long could tell you to any reasonable degree of accuracy what the moisture content of a board was. Guess they must since people keep buying them. But people keep buying NorthAmerican style table saws, too, don't they! (grin)
As for wind, I'm originally from Kansas. *NOW* we're talking wind. A Kansas wind gauge consists of a log chain fastened to the top of a 6' post in the ground. When the chain's horizontal is when you have to start thinking about heading for the cellar. When you come out, the post will probably be gone.
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Dennis
Moisture meters do work. Most will only read up to 1/2". You should always check several places as the end grain will usually be higher content than the middle. BTW, a probe is available that allows deeper penetration.
Back to the shop. Great weather Atlanta. Hope you guys enjoy the WW show Seattle.
sarge..jt
Jamie
I believe you burn a wood-burner if my memory serves me correct. ( Which is only about 50% of the time. he ). It really drys out the air. Wood that is too dry is as much a problem ( I have found ) as too moist. The ideal range is from between 8% and 12%. If you get 9% to 10%, no matter if it's 3 AM work it. Ha...
The moisture meter is a great investment. It will pay for itself. That won't be evident at first, but pieces that hold constant over the years will be the determining factor. BTW, you can get a Timber-Check for about $70. I use it with the pins for rough lumber. I also have a Wagner LED without pins for stock that is prepared. I don't like the pin holes in that assembly stock.
Would make a great Xmas gift for someone that is looking to please you. ( Are you listening, sig-o he..he.. ) Have a great day in the neighborhood. grin>
sarge..jt
Hiya Sarge! I think I'll probably be ok with my woodstove. It would have an uphill battle in the dead of winter to make things "too dry" since at the most it runs maybe 5 hours per day.
So, sounds like you've gotten good results with the two meter you have. I'll have to do some more reading on the various options and see what I might put on my Christmas list!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Jamie
A not to long ago FW had a great article on meters. Pretty sure it was FW. Worth reading regardless if you're going to purchase latter.
Sounds like you got everything under control with the wood stove. I would sleep a lot better if you did take the walnut slab inside just to be safe. Well, at least till after the WW show in Seattle when you'll be gone for many hours..he..he..
Hope you had a great week-end and alls well..
sarge..jt
Sorry, I missed what I originally was going to say. With a moisture meter you know if the wood is too wet or Dry. If it gets to dry, put a kettle of water on your wood burning stove. An old trick I used to see years ago from people that burned coal or wood for their main heat source.
sarge..jt
Hi Dennis, how's your weekend? Have a question for you here, as the humidity's is up around 70 now, and only comes down when I run the stove for awhile. If I run a good-sized box fan (house type), say about 6' off the floor, will that lower the humidity any? You did so well on the cold vs. warm air thing, thought you might know, LOL!!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
You kinda got me on that one, Jamie, the fan thing. In theory, I guess, given an enclosed spacet a given humidity, all things being equal and all, the fan would merely move the existing air around and thus not have a great deal of effect on the humidity level. But that's just a guess.
There must be some effect on other aspects of moisture control such as condensation since the old cars used to have nothing more than a fan blowing on the windshield to keep it from 'fogging up'. But I don't see how it would change the amount of moisture in the air without some other outside influence.
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Oh :-( I thought maybe "moving air holds less moisture than stagnant air" or sumpin' like that, LOL.
I feel a little better since Mike posted that RH in his place stays at 90%. Seems like he does OK.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
> ...Oh :-( I thought maybe "moving air holds less moisture than stagnant air"
Well, again using the windshield defroster analogy, the opposite would seem true: moving air holds more water vapor than still air. But that's just intuition speaking and not any kind of a priori knowledge.
I think it helps intellectualize the picture by thinking of water vapor and air molecules as little particles, which in fact they are in a sense, and that the more they're moving around the less chance there is of having them, the water vapor molecules, light on stuff. Keep in mind also that we always vent attic and crawl spaces in houses to prevent condensation and dry rot. Here again the principle is that the vapor pressure, the movement of water vapor from the *warm* side to the *cold* side will push that vapor through anything that's not vapor impermiable. So on the cold side we have to keep the air moving and exhaust, in a manner of speaking, the vapor from the otherwise enclosed space.
That doesn't address your question regarding having a fan in the shop, though. At least with a fan the dust will remain in suspension longer for the dust extraction system to gather it up. (grin)
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
>>dust extraction system
Don't I wish! HaHa.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
A dust extraction/collection system is high on my shopping list at the show this weekend. Has to be somewhat portable since it will be installed here at this place (garage/workshop situation) then moved within a year's time to our "new" place up north. But I gotta do something about keeping the dust outta the house.
Never again will I consider using a garage as a shop! Too much at stake with respect to domestic tranquility!!
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Water condenses on cooler surfaces. A windshield is a cooler surface and water condenses there. You stop this by raising the temperature of the windshield enough to stop the condensation. A fan works great for this.Condensation is a problem in the shop when the ambient room temperature is higher than the metal tables. Water condenses on the cooler metal tables if the humidity and temperature gradient is high enough.Here's an EMC table that will show you the effect of relative humidity on wood moisture content.>EMC ChartFeel free to download the chart, there are no copyright concerns. Lee Grindinger
Furniture Carver
Thanks, Lee, for the great table at that link. Looks like under the current conditions, my wood's EMC would be about 13% whenever it settled at the EMC. Since I'm currently building out of very narrow and relatively thin boards, that doesn't seem too bad.
Still, I'm thinking almost daily about a dehumidifier. Just can't help myself!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I'm considering a dehumidifier for my unheated workshop. Any wisdom on how effective they are? The shop will be insulated.
Actually, I do have a 30-40,000 watt electric heater I can run on the coldest of days. Now I'm thinking about a wood burning stove.
- les
Hi Les. I really haven't done any research on the dehumidifiers. I'm wondering how effective one would be in my particular situation, because the place is so air-untight.
A woodburning stove is certainly more economical (by many times) than an electric heater! Open flame, so caution with solvents is necessary. I love having heat out there. A pellet stove's even better -- feeds itself, isn't as much hassle as far as fuel goes, burns very efficiently.
Do you have access to natural gas? That a great solution. Or, around here I think you can have up to a 100-gal. propane tank close to a building.
If I get time to do some preliminary research, I'll pass it along.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG
48% RH & 72*F @ 1.50pm Noth East Victoria, Australia.
Don
Jamie
I store in the basement which is very stable all year. I bring the wood into the shop before working to let it acclimate. Temps and humidity in the summer are high down south. I don't do much except tinker and shop improvements between June and late Aug. When the wood gets between 8% and 11% after acclimation, time to get moving! The time to work best here has arrived..
sarge..jt
June - Late August. That's about the length of time we might have decent weather here, LOL! Although the spread is usually July to early Sept. I'm glad we don't have to deal with "muggy" though!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
My shop is in a detached unheated/uninsulated garage in the Vancouver BC area. Last winter the relative humidity in my shop ranged from 65 to 70%. Summertime is typically 50 to 60%.
Steve
This sounds very much like what we have here, not surprising since "here" is the Puget Sound. Does your dried, milled wood that's in storage behave itself pretty well?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I've not experienced any problems, so far. I mostly do woodturning, and sometimes with green wood, so I'm usually dealing with different moisture problems.
The moisture content of the wood I store in the shop or out in the barn usually stabilizes at arount 11-12%. If I am making furniture for indoors, I'll usually cut my wood to rough dimensions, then store it in the house for a couple of weeks before cutting it to size. In the winter months, I'll store my WIP's indoors. LOML is very understanding.
Steve
Interesting thread. I didn't think so many wood workers would be monitoring shop temp and humidity. Anyway, I've kept one of those three instrument "weather thingies" in my shop for several decades now and actually consult it before starting certain projects.
Here are the approximate ranges for my basement shop, located in suburban Detroit, where we've been located for the past 10 years: The temperature remains almost constant between 68 and 72F throughout the year. The RH ranges from a winter low of about 25% and a summer high of 65% (I have a portable dehumidifier that helps to limit the summer highs, so my tools won't rust and I don't develop mildew problems.) The barometer on my antique weather thingie is broken...so, it's always "fair" in my shop, which somehow seems appropriate anyway.
I've discovered (the hard way) that it's risky to work on projects requiring wide, edge-glued panels, if the RH is above 60%...and conversely, it's a big mistake to try and bend the side slats (ribs) of dulcimers when the RH is below about 35%...So, there is a season to the things I make and I value that old weather thingie as a darn important piece of equipment.
Jon
It is an interested thread Jamie started. I have been watching the humidity since the mid-eighties. When I bring my pre-cut assembly stock to the shop I even wrap it in Saran wrap till I assemble. Steve from Canada mentioned a similar method without the Saran. I have had only 1 glue joint separate with a hair-line crack since. That is probaly due to the piece sits next to an AC vent that hits it directly. Other than that, excellent results by weather-watching..
Jamie: Let us know how your rainy season affects your stock. I'm running a year experiment with moisture movement for my area and am curious how your monsoon season will affect.
sarge..jt
Jon, thanks so much for contributing to this thread. I'm pleased that so many WWers are able to send in info on this topic, from around the world as it turns out.
Fortunately, I guess, wide panel work is not on the agenda for me for the time being. The RH seems to be holding at about 66% right now, as it's been pretty dry outside. I'm working on a project with 5/8" x 2" red oak in a simple frame shape (like a shadowbox), which will have fairly narrow molding attached, plywood back. This stock has been in my shop for several months now, and has been very stable, so I'm hoping I can assemble it, bring it in the house for the Watco and varnish, and it'll be OK in the house.
It must not have been fun discovering the constraints on the dulcimer ribs! BTW, one of my favorite instruments is hammered dulcimer.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I knew there was a reason I liked you right away, Jamie. Few people even know what hammered dulcimer is. My #2 played hammered dulcimer. We were together from 1985 to 1997 and it broke my heart when she split. She now lives in Corvallis. Our son, Tobin, is now 16 and, except for struggling with the usual teenage stuff, he's a great kid.
A very close friend, who lives in Salem, also plays hammered dulcimer, one custom made for her by a woodworker friend. I've never tried to learn, but I sure love the sound. I have a Christmas tape of all hammed dulcimer songs that I try to wear out each holiday season.--
Lee in Cave Junction, Oregon
On the Redwood Highway
(the town, not me)
The first time I heard a hammered dulcimer I was totally enchanted. It's a truly beautiful instrument, and just puts me in such a mellow mood! Most of the songs I've listened to have been in the seagoing music vein. Quite fantastic in the old sense of the word.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Not sure what the moisture level of my shop is, it kinda depends on if it's raining or not. I do know that in some parts of the shop due to run off from the roof etc. the moisture level must approach 100%.
I've found that tarps etc. have only moderate reduction in the amount of rust that accumulates on non painted parts of power tools. The best appraoch seems to be steady use and steady applications of WD40. I didn't use a Delta table top planer for a few weeks and now it will require major attention before it can be used again. (and it was in part of the drier section of the shop)
Normally I don't leave tools in the rain but since the shop is under construction while I build my timber frame, and mother nature has decided that this year would be a good one to have a record amount of rainfall I have no choice.
By the way I've found that tempurature affects wood more than moisture. If it's 30 below outside and I bring in a 24 foot long timber into a 70 degree shop, the timber changes too much.
Based on Dennis' comment above, warm air holding more moisture than cool air, I would think that when you bring that big piece of lumber inside (at 70 degrees), from the outside (at 30 below) there would be a significant change in humidity.
Sounds like it's a major accomplishment just keeping tools in working order! forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
F_G ....
The principle of warmer air holding more moister (water in vapor form) is the reason why the vapor barrier on blanket insulation is placed on the *warm* side of the wall ... the inside in our case here in the NW. There's this thing called vapor pressure which will actually -push- the vapor through a wall. When the vapor laden air reaches the dew point, moisture condenses on the cool things it encounters. In the case of wood framing without sufficient venting, this means wood or in particular metal fasening hardware, even exposed nail heads.
Can you say "dry rot"...? (grin)
Don't know if you were around here in the '50's but the big design thing was exposed 2x T&G deck roof/ceiling construction. Of course, the vapor barrier, usually in the form of a built-up tar roof, was on the cold side of the wood. In severe cases, the dew point was at some point *within* the wood planks. The decking would become saturated and thus rot out with no apparent failure in the roof membrane.
I'm beginning to wonder if, along with a moisture meter for the wood, if a humistat for the shop would be a handy thing to have hanging along side the thermometer?
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Hi Dennis, oooohhh this stuff gets confusing. I think I follow though.
A stat update: Today I went out to the shop for the first time since Thursday. It was a bit below 50 degrees inside, a tad over 70% RH. Fired up the woodstove. When I checked a few minutes ago it was about 60 degrees and 65% RH. The instrument is up on the wood rack, about 6-1/2' up, ~18" from the wall, with plenty of air movement around it, about 8 feet from the stove pipe.
I think one value I'll want to watch is what happens to the humidity when the stove goes out and temp is dropping. Say a couple hours later.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Your figures seem to throw sand on my comments re: temperature vs humidity (grin) I don't doubt your readings, Jamie, - I think the wood stove is helping to keep the humidity our of the air in your shop.
That's the theory, anyway....
Another thing that's relavent (I think) is the dew point. You determine this with a wet bulb thermometer. Which is really nothing but a thermometer that's wrapped up in something like cotton. The cotton is wet down with water and air passed over it which obviously cools the cotton ball due to evaporation. The lower the temperature reading, the lower the dew point. The dew point being the point where water vapor in the air you're testing will condense. Like if you bring something cold like a hunk of iron in from outdoors and it starts to "sweat". That's actually moisture in the air condensing on the cold surface since it's below the dew point in the space. Same thing on the bathroom mirror when you get out of the shower.
OK .... ramble mode off ....
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Hi Dennis, I don't think the reading necessarily contradict your humidity/temp information -- I think the drying-out that takes place via the wood-burning heat compensates, even over-compensates, for the difference. I'm really quite happy to see this, as my idea has always been to heat the shop frequently enough to keep the moisture from building up in there as it would if it were unheated. Will continue to monitor under different conditions though.
The stove burned out this afternoon at about 1:00. I checked the gauges at 6 pm, and it was still at 65% RH. Hadn't cooled off much since the weather is so mild :-)
I think if I was heating with the propane torpedo burner, I'd not be getting such desirable results.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
>...I think if I was heating with the propane torpedo burner, I'd not be getting such desirable results.
Egad ... you'd probably have condensation dripping from the pipes of your lumber rack and any other metal objects in there!!! (grin)
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Dennis! You used the words "drip" and "lumber" in the same sentence. Eeeeek!
When it gets real cold, say in about December, I use the propane to "kick-start" the temp rise, let it run while I'm building a nice hot fire in the wood stove, then turn off the propane, as by that time, the tank's getting frost on the outside anyway.
Next year, if I can get the sig-o to thin out all the "stuff" stored up above the rafters, and finish putting a ceiling in, the shop will heat up faster as less warm air will be going up into that storage area.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Jamie, didn't you just build a new wood rack from those steel wall risers and shelf brackets? With humidity/temperature readings like that, I would watch carefully for rust on the top of the brackets and the front side of the risers. You might want to protect the wood from contact with the steel. Waxing the steel might help, or you might try one of the spray-on rust preventives.--
Lee in Cave Junction, Oregon
On the Redwood Highway
Hi Lee. The lumber rack I built is made of 2x4's and galvanized pipe. I have OSB between the lumber and the pipe. That should do it, yes??forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
forest girl wrote: The lumber rack I built is made of 2x4's and galvanized pipe. I have OSB between the lumber and the pipe. That should do it, yes?
------------------
That should do just fine, Jamie. My memory was hazy about the construction you used, but I did remember that a metal contact with the wood was involved.
The weather here has been mild also. Quite cool early mornings so I wear long sleeves, but warming enough by noon that I regret my choice. Then the evening cools rapidly and I am glad again for the long sleeves. The larger maples are just begining to show their fall colors.
BTW, since we're talking about wood, Monday I bought about 1000BF of beautiful white oak, plus about 500BF of rather fine Doug fir, on the hoof. A neighbor's oak tree came down a week ago causing the phone company quite a bit of grief. It completely smashed one of their poles to splinters. The fir was right next to the oak and needed to come out too, as the uprooting of the oak had weakened the root system of the fir.
I happened to be on the scene quite early and asked the owner if she wanted to sell it. Her late husband had been a woodworker and she definately wanted the wood to go for lumber rather than, as is usual in this very rural area, for firewood.
My sawyer should pick up the logs later this week and get around to sawing it a bit later. It will take about 3 years to air dry it, but the money and time are an investment, an investment in beauty as the wood takes on a new life as a useful and beautiful addition to someone's life.
--
Lee in Cave Junction, Oregon
On the Redwood Highway
Edited 10/16/2002 3:22:56 AM ET by Lee
my shop is in the Catskills in NY. I have a four foot piece of edge glued plain sawn red oak cutoffs that I have been measuring the length and MC for close to three years. The MC varies from 5.5% in the winter with heat on to 10% in the summer with doors open. The length varies by 1 5/16 inches over this MC range. Art
Art,
The length varies by 1-5/16? The long grain direction?
Or do you mean that the size change in the 4 foot dimension is the glued up size across the grain?
Rich
These are cutoffs from tables I was making, and they are glued up cross grain. This works out to be about 5/16 inch per foot which surprised me. I mostly work with red oak so now I use this as a guage when making panels for frame and panel doors. Art
Art,
I'm still not clear on what you are describing. Are you saying that you are getting 1-5/16 movement in the long grain direction over a span of 4 feet? That would be a lot of movement for a 4' wide table across the grain, which is the direction of most movement. If the movement is in the long grain direction, that is huge.
Rich
That change in length is about double what I would expect based on the
"Shrinkulator" at http://www.woodbin.com but the MC figures are close to what I get south of you on Long Island Sound.
I was surprised too, but the measurements are consistent over a couple of years.I have since connected the end of the board with a pointer and a fulcrum which gives about an eightfold multiplier of the movememnt and I use this to determine where I am in the expansion/contraction cycle when I am building panels for frame and panel doors. I think I'm a better woodworker than a photographer but I am attaching a picture of this set up. (if it works) Art
Art,
Now it's beginning to make sense. From the image, it's clear that you are getting the movement in the cross-grain direction.
Rich
Hello, new guy from Alberta here.
I have a radiant heater and a small humidifier ; both run steady to keep me at about 65 temp. and 45 humidity.
Anything I leave in front of the heater will dry out and curl up like an old potato chip in spite of the humidifier,though.
I'm going to make a gauge just like Art's!
Hi Gerry, welcome!! What are the temps this time of year in Alberta?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Hello, I've got my new moniker in place and I've posted a question in Finishing ; this computer stuff is almost as challenging as woodworking !
It is definitely Fall here in Alberta, we are getting frost every night but it warms up pleasantly when the sun shines. To me pleasant is 50* or higher.
Sprucegum (formerly known as Gerry :o)It's not what you chew, it's how you chew it
The humidity in my shop and wood shed stays close to 90%, year round! Lately it's been more. Good ol' Houston, you know. Doesn't affect the wood one iota! Ya just gotta plan for the shrinkage when a project goes in the house. I have not seen any affect on the finishing either except sometime when using non-retarded lacquer.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy
PlaneWood
ps - i got the charts in PDF format if anyone wants.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_KatyPlaneWood
Hi Mike, what exactly do you mean by "planning for shrinkage"? Can you give a simple example?? It doesn't sound like you bring your lumber in to acclimate before you construct the piece.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG - by that i mean that all hardwoods over 4" wide are going to noticably shrink in this environment when brought inside. So, you build accordingly. Like floating a table top, paneled doors, etc. For instance when doing panel doors, you cut the panels to the maximum width cause you know the panels are going to shrink when brought inside. If I were in AZ, I would cut them minimum width. Also, when I did a king sized cherry headboard, I let the bottom connection to the posts float with a pin set to almost the maximum limit.
I have never acclimitized my lumber cause I never had a climate controlled shop till recently, and then only when it's so hot outside that I would go through a dozen sweat bands in a day.
My sis out in AZ has a lot of antique furniture that is all split to h-e-l-l. I got to checking and all side panels, door panels, everything had been glued. No room for movement had been allowed anywhere.
I guess no one built furniture before the advent of AC's??
PlaneWood by Mike_in_KatyPlaneWood
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