ok here is something that baffled me (no pun intended) i got a 8x8 spruce beam from the job i'm working on. 24 inch long. it has been dry holding a 100 year old house up. i put it in the stove with a few other splits and this thing starts hissing and foaming like a green split. anybody have any idea why?
sizzle
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If it was used inside, it would be dry to the same level of humidity as the inside of the house. If it's at 40% at 70 °F it will not be as dry as your fire wood, it's 20% at a much lower temp. Or, the sizzling may not be moisture at all, but sap/resin liquifying and being pushed from the center of the beam. If it burns relatively smoke free and an active fire, I wouldn't worry about the first one. If you have more pieces try splitting them down the middle and testing moisture. I have a piece of Torry Pine compression burl that I have had in the desert climate for almost twenty years. It is a chunk roughly twelve by sixteen inches. It weighs about half what it weighed when I got it, but the moisture level is still about 42% using a probe resistance meter. It will probably drop another 10% or so before I turn it on the lathe, but it really doesn't dry fast at all. Some woods if sealed at the end grain will retain moisture much longer than expected.
it makes sense what you guys have said. the basement was dry. if it were pitch it's going to be hard to tell unless the thick yellow color is the sign. didn't look like steam.
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