Dry Ash

[Babaganoosh]

24 posts before I posted that and lots of people being condescending or smart asses.

Make sure the guy is doing it correctly first. Geez we were all new at some point.

 

[DUMF]

24 posts before I posted that and lots of people being condescending or smart asses.

Make sure the guy is doing it correctly first. Geez we were all new at some point.

Plenty of that Baba, good thought.
But here's a repeated drill for the OCD Woodpilers among us old and new, ambiance wood heaters for romance, or dead righteous 100% wood burners: use common sense or K.I.S.S. look at the splits you have. To see if they are seasoned, ready to burn-----LOOK
Have they changed color from when green and just stacked/split to a pale grey "weathered" ?
Bang a couple of splits together. If they sound dull, or 'thud', don't burn. If they 'ring' like the sound of a baseball bat or your splitting ax handle, burn.
Can you see cracks or fissures on the ends of the splits ? Then burn.
BTW: this ain't the first post on this.
Remember, those moisture meters only measure the surface of a few millimeters, not the interior of the split. Sure, if you need something to do, use it. Fun. They are used for furniture makers and pros who need to know lumber seasoning for structure and dimensional lumber sellers..
Using firewood over years you'll discover that you get to know each split, the species, where the tree was felled, how you split and stacked it, how the perfume of fresh cut wood made you romantic.

 

[Burn Time]

Burn Time,


I see you saying you are testing the sides versus the ends which is good.

But in order to get an accurate reading you need two things. A piece that is approximately warmed up to room temperature (70 degrees) and a freshly split split piece.

That means you have to let it warm up, then split one of your test pieces, and then immediately stick those moisture meter probes into the newly exposed side.

Is that what you are doing? If not, you are doing it incorrectly.

Thanks for the tip. I can see the logic, that a split begins to dry on the surface as soon as it is split, resulting in a lower moisture reading at the exterior than the interior. However, I do push the two probes hard into the wood. That alone will produce a reading approximately two percentage points than if I simply bring the probes into contact with the surface. In another comment, somebody noted that moisture readings are not accurate but do provide a relative measure. Splitting stove length pieces indoors is a recipe for disaster, at least in my house. I do occasionally split kindling on the hearth, but nothing larger than kindling. I had a lot of Boy Scout experience with hand splitting 55 years ago; saw one of the dads sink an ax between his toes. I'm handy with hatchets and axes, but safety comes first. Thanks again.

 

[Burn Time]

Plenty of that Baba, good thought.
But here's a repeated drill for the OCD Woodpilers among us old and new, ambiance wood heaters for romance, or dead righteous 100% wood burners: use common sense or K.I.S.S. look at the splits you have. To see if they are seasoned, ready to burn-----LOOK
Have they changed color from when green and just stacked/split to a pale grey "weathered" ?
Bang a couple of splits together. If they sound dull, or 'thud', don't burn. If they 'ring' like the sound of a baseball bat or your splitting ax handle, burn.
Can you see cracks or fissures on the ends of the splits ? Then burn.
BTW: this ain't the first post on this.
Remember, those moisture meters only measure the surface of a few millimeters, not the interior of the split. Sure, if you need something to do, use it. Fun. They are used for furniture makers and pros who need to know lumber seasoning for structure and dimensional lumber sellers..
Using firewood over years you'll discover that you get to know each split, the species, where the tree was felled, how you split and stacked it, how the perfume of fresh cut wood made you romantic.

Exactly. It's a lot like gathering firewood for a campfire. BTW, just for chuckles, last night I placed a huge (6x6) fresh split that measured 18% in the back of the firebox for an east-west stoking. The piece actually felt wet. I raked out a hollow in the back, bringing the coals to the front. After I filled the hollow with wood, I pushed coals against it and then placed dry splits on top of the coals up to the front of the firebox. Nothing original there; just setting the stage. So, the coals ignited the dry splits but I couldn't see what was happening to the oversized wet split in the back. Stove top temperature maxed at about 450. This morning, there is a huge pile of red coals in the back, which is ordinarily the case when I restoke in that way. I guess that the heat just drove the moisture out of the big piece and then vaporized the VOCs. Might be a good way to mix in some high-moisture splits if a guy is a bit short on the dryer stuff. Of course, it might have worked just as well if I had restoked east-west.

 

[Burn Time]

24 posts before I posted that and lots of people being condescending or smart asses.

Make sure the guy is doing it correctly first. Geez we were all new at some point.

Thanks. You know, sometimes you ask a question even if you think you know the answer. It's a good way to learn even more than you think you know. So, asking a question doesn't necessarily mean a guy is green around the edges. I've ignited campfires with flint and steel and I've burned a Resolute Acclaim for more than 25 years, but it never hurts to ask how somebody else does it. Moisture meters are cool gadgets, but . . ..

 

[Burn Time]

You're golden, cut and split that honey hole while you can, the Ash that has succumbed to the emerald ash borer is getting old and some of it is getting punky. Getting it cut split and stacked (CSS) will stop that process. Downstate we have a new pest called Oak Wilt. Will offer some good firewood, but damn I had to lose my Oaks.

Oak wilt has hit in central Wisconsin. Sure hope it stays away from my place in SE Wisconsin. We have about a dozen white oaks with DBH of 36'" to 48". Old guys. When a limb falls off, it makes a nice supply of firewood. I call it "furniture grade."

 

[Burn Time]

You might want to find some new 'experts.' The inner layer is the heartwood.

The heartwood is dead, isn't it? So moisture is greatest in the sapwood, correct? A friend who installs hardwood floors talks about sapwood providing nice color variations in the wood, but being inferior. Flooring without sapwood costs more and is uniform in color. I had a bunch of white ash quarter sawn, kiln dried and milled with tongue and groove two years ago. It's beautiful material and seems to be equally hard (really hard) throughout.

 

[Burn Time]

You're golden, cut and split that honey hole while you can, the Ash that has succumbed to the emerald ash borer is getting old and some of it is getting punky. Getting it cut split and stacked (CSS) will stop that process. Downstate we have a new pest called Oak Wilt. Will offer some good firewood, but damn I had to lose my Oaks.

I'm trying to cut and split as much as I can. It does get punky after a short time and can be hazardous to fell because of a tendency of the trunks to splinter. I've got skads of white ash and can cut and split and haul the branches to a burn pile, three in a day. I'll never get them all cut before they go bad.

 

[Babaganoosh]

Thanks for the tip. I can see the logic, that a split begins to dry on the surface as soon as it is split, resulting in a lower moisture reading at the exterior than the interior. However, I do push the two probes hard into the wood. That alone will produce a reading approximately two percentage points than if I simply bring the probes into contact with the surface. In another comment, somebody noted that moisture readings are not accurate but do provide a relative measure. Splitting stove length pieces indoors is a recipe for disaster, at least in my house. I do occasionally split kindling on the hearth, but nothing larger than kindling. I had a lot of Boy Scout experience with hand splitting 55 years ago; saw one of the dads sink an ax between his toes. I'm handy with hatchets and axes, but safety comes first. Thanks again.

Well nobody is saying that you have to split it inside your house. We are just saying to bring it inside to get it to room temperature and then split and test.

I know you think you are getting a good reading by jamming the pins in hard but it just isn't going to be an accurate measurement. The only way to get an accurate reading is...

1. Split a piece of wood that's approximately 70 degrees
2. Insert moisture meter pins into the freshly exposed face of the wood.
3. Read the meter.

That's the only way. Any other way and your reading will be incorrect. You could be as far as 15 to 20 percentage points off by not testing on a freshly split piece.

Try that and post up the results.

 

[Burn Time]

Well nobody is saying that you have to split it inside your house. We are just saying to bring it inside to get it to room temperature and then split and test.

I know you think you are getting a good reading by jamming the pins in hard but it just isn't going to be an accurate measurement. The only way to get an accurate reading is...

1. Split a piece of wood that's approximately 70 degrees
2. Insert moisture meter pins into the freshly exposed face of the wood.
3. Read the meter.

That's the only way. Any other way and your reading will be incorrect. You could be as far as 15 to 20 percentage points off by not testing on a freshly split piece.

Try that and post up the results.

OK, you made me curious. I risked life and limb to split a room temperature 2x2x2 triangular split on the hearth. Got 15% on the old split surface and 16% on the newly split surface. I pressed the probes into the wood in each case. Well, it's not 15 to 20 points, but it does illustrate that the interior is more damp. The split was seasoned from the middle of last summer. On the other hand, what do you suppose is the accuracy of the typical $30 General Tools moisture meter from Home Depot? That's what I have. I thought the $150 and up models were over the top, since I can tell if a split is good to burn by appearance, feel, heft and sound of knocking two together. BTW, I restoked the stove 20 minutes ago. I filled the box north-south with a 4x4 of ash that was cut and split yesterday, seasoned ash splits and pieces of ash slab. With both dampers open, the firebox is full of bright flame, stove top temperature rose from about 250 to about 480 and the sides of the green piece are glowing red just like the seasoned pieces. Last winter I also experimented with firing unseasoned with seasoned wood and had good results. The stove pipe and flue were clean as a whistle when inspected last summer by the stove dealer. The flue is Isokern precast and about 35 feet tall. I also have an Isokern fireplace flue and firebox and have never had creosote deposits there either in 25 years. Isokern is precast from volcanic rock mined in Iceland. Amazing stuff. Four years ago a neighbor using a steel fireplace and stainless flue pipe in a wooden chase burned green wood repeatedly. The flue went off like a Roman candle and the chase caught fire and fell off the side of the house. Smoke damage throughout. The restoration took six months.

 

[Babaganoosh]

Well here is a quick example.

Here is the outside of a piece of maple. It's been seasoned 18 months

The outside reads 9%




Here is the reading when I split it and stick it into the freshly split face. 17%



8% difference. If that was oak I'd bet the outside would be 9% while the inside was around 35%. That's a huge difference and 35% isn't really burnable in an epa stove.

I see you responded above..I'll check that out in a bit.

 

[Burn Time]

Well here is a quick example.

Here is the outside of a piece of maple. It's been seasoned 18 months

The outside reads 9%


View attachment 191671

Here is the reading when I split it and stick it into the freshly split face. 17%

View attachment 191672

8% difference. If that was oak I'd bet the outside would be 9% while the inside was around 35%. That's a huge difference and 35% isn't really burnable in an epa stove.

I see you responded above..I'll check that out in a bit.

It would seem that the more dense the wood, the greater variation in moisture content between the inside and the "seasoned" outside, correct? Your estimate of the difference in the case of oak would seem to mean that seasoning to reach a burnable core moisture would need to be for a period of years rather than months. Do you agree? Yet I've never had a problem burning wood that I considered "seasoned" in either my old Resolute Acclaim or Mansfield, although the Mansfield is more difficult to manage IMHO. It might be difficult to plan far enough ahead to have properly seasoned firewood on hand. What is the alternative?

 

[Woody Stover]

Oak wilt has hit in central Wisconsin. Sure hope it stays away from my place in SE Wisconsin. We have about a dozen white oaks with DBH of 36'" to 48". Old guys. When a limb falls off, it makes a nice supply of firewood. I call it "furniture grade."

I don't think the Whites are as susceptible to Oak Wilt, mainly it is the Red types.
Oh no, not 'furniture grade' wood. Yellow (Tulip) Poplar is used for furniture, but doesn't last too long in the stove.

split a room temperature 2x2x2 triangular split on the hearth. Got 15% on the old split surface and 16% on the newly split surface.....sound of knocking two together.

Even fresh Oak might be dry in a year, if split 2 x 2.
Knocking splits together has been hit and miss for me. Some can be soaking wet, yet still "ring like a bell."