Question
From Carl Hagstrom, Systems Administrator at WOODWEB
Gene – I was talking with a person today about measuring moister content in frozen wood. We both realized that we didn't know if pin type moisture meters read the MC of frozen wood accurately (using the same settings as with un-frozen wood). I’m hoping you can shed some light on this. Can a person take a pin type meter and take readings from frozen lumber (let's say lumber sitting under cover at 17 degree temps) using the same settings as for unfrozen lumber with all the same "stats" (species, thickness, etc.).
Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From Gene Wengert, forum technical advisor:
Once the wood is under 30% MC, a moisture meter starts to work and works down to 6% MC or so. At this moisture, the only water in wood is called bound water and is not a liquid. So, it cannot freeze. So, you can use a meter on wood that is under 32 F and achieve good readings.
