First, I fully expect I’m asking a question for which there may be no “right” answer.  And, I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading posts here and elsewhere resulting in my mind glazing over with details an old man and or a mildly experienced maker of sawdust can’t wrap his head around. Any and all responses are welcome.

I’m hoping to soon begin building my “last” workbench.  It will be from southern yellow pine roughly in the Swartz / Roubo vein.  I live in Northern Ohio. It gets pretty humid here in the summer and can become relatively dry in the winters. The bench will live in my detached, somewhat insulated workshop which I keep at a minimum of 40 F in the cold winters. Not air conditioned nor dehumidified in the summer. 

I bought construction 2×12 boards from a big box yard. I’ve no idea how long it sat in covered bunkers at the yard. I stickered it in the shop for about 6 weeks before ripping the sticks in half. When I brought it home my low end  surface meter was going me readings of 12% give or take. After the 6 weeks I was getting 10% on average with that meter. I borrowed a pin meter and was consistently getting an average reading of 7%.  

After ripping it’s set stacked another 2 weeks and the surface meter is still giving me  about 10%.  I don’t have access to the pin meter any longer.  I’ve not noticed any big wood movement that wasn’t there right after I ripped it, but then again it’s still stickered.

Any thoughts on what “equilibrium” should be before I move forward?  For what it’s worth, other wood in storage in the shop for a fair amount of time yields readings in the 8 – 9% range but that’s mostly cherry and hard maple.  I’m really chasing aMC maybe more than I’m seeking the “equilibrium” number I guess.

There was a surprising amount of torsion in some of the sticks when I ripped it.  Like I said, any comments welcomed.