New Pyramid

[steve b.]

I don't have a moisture meter.  I don't think they work--the ones you stick into the wood.  I have a thing you hang on the wall that tells temp and moisture.

[Wooden Spring]

I don't have a moisture meter.  I don't think they work--the ones you stick into the wood.  I have a thing you hang on the wall that tells temp and moisture.

But how long does the wood need to set in that environment before it reaches Equilibrium Moisture Content?

[steve b.]

Not sure.  Depends on how thick the wood is and how dry you want it.   Green wood will lose alot of weight even in the 72% basement, and needs to before going into the box.  So I rough out a couple of those somewhat dry staves and put them in the box for at least a couple of weeks while I'm working some other bow.  When I finally get one of those to floor tiller I stop and put it back in the box for at least 24 hours.  When I actually start tillering I can "feel" how dry the wood is when I'm working it--by the dryness of the chips and the springiness of the wood.  It might not be a perfect system but its alot  better than what I was doing.

[Wooden Spring]

Outstanding, many thanks sir!

[Don Case]

I made a little oven for curing epoxy part for my model boats. I use a 200w light bulb in series with an old hot water tank thermostat. There are two thermostats in most tanks and they rarely break. The temperature on the thermostat won't match what's in the box very well but once you get it adjusted it will keep it within about 5 degrees. I put an old computer fan in there to keep the air moving. To determine if the wood has stabilized I weigh it every couple of days. I use a digital kitchen scale that I got on sale for $10. It's accurate to within a gram. In my garage a new stave will lose 10-15 grams a day. When you find the weight is going up and down for a week then it's stabilized. Hope this is of use.
Don

[Josh B]

Looks pretty good!  I wish i could be of some help on the moisture problem, but its not much of a concern where I'm at.  So I don't have too much experience with how to combat high MC.  Josh