Sounding wood MC by knocking, but wait..

[CarbonNeutral]

So, first year of real burning - 6+ cords of wood, some dry, some not.

During collecting this wood from 20+ places, some got mixed in and now I have a cluster^%^ of 2-3 cords of wood (mostly maple) that I need to sort as I'll be short this year. I can't split every piece and test it with my moisture meter.

So, I'm doing the knocking thing - if it rings, it's dry, thuds, wet - once in a while I'll test - maybe I'm right 65% of the time.

So here's the question. presumably I should knock the piece I'm testing with a wet piece because:

Dry/test: who knows which one is ringing?
Wet/test: if it rings, then then the test must be dry

Yes, no? Shut up and burn it all?

 

[Wood Duck]

Does a dry piece make the diagnostic ringing tone when knocked against a wet piece? Maybe you need one of those mallets used to play a xylophone.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I imagine if you start off with a known dry piece in one had and smack it with an unknown piece you should do just fine. A wet and dry piece shouldn't ring.

Matt

 

[Dune]

An ocasional wet piece will burn any way. It will dry in the stove and then burn.

 

[Danno77]

knock it on your head and tell me what you hear.

seriously, though. If you have a stack of seasoning wood, check a few with your moisture meter. I imagine you aren't pulling each piece off of the stack during the winter and testing before you bring it in. at the point the wood starts coming in during the winter it all gets burned, even if it's a soggy piece mixed in with the dry. I ain't standing out in the 0 degree weather checking each split. If I had a moisture meter I'd check stuff in late november and then just burn away. It's kinda like a 401K lately. You are only gonna make yourself worry by checking, just toss the 401K statement (or firewood split) into the woodstove and hope it turns out ok.

PS, that advice is only good in the future, i know, but for now I'd just sort by the wood types and check a few of each of the types with the MM.

 

[quads]