Re: Common Names - Moisture Meters - Confusion & Consternation. HELP!

[Earl Creel]

Problem:

> Need to give the moisture meter the specific gravity of the "english > sycamore". BUT "english sycamore" is a common name, also known as > "european maple" and it isn't actually sycamore - it's a maple. I've > found THREE different specific gravity values for "english sycamore" - > 0.61, 0.66 and 0.72. Short of sending a sample to a government agency > to find out what it is does anyone here have any suggestions? >

(SNIP) Interesting problem Charlie. Wagner has a web site, in the frequently ask question section they list an 800 number and also give an Email address. You might start by contacting them, they should be able to help you. Keep us posted, there are a lot of us who need to better understand how to get meaningful moisture readings. Earl Creel

[J. Clarke]

Go to

plug in the common names of some of the species from your table, and see whether the numbers in the table correspond to the green density or the KD density. Your density for hard maple, the only species that you mention for which I could find a specific gravity listed in the database, is higher than the listed KD density, so it seems very likely that what you need is the KD density and not green.

Note that many species show significant variation in dried specific gravity, so the "book" value might not be all that accurate anyway.

If worse comes to worse if you're in the US the government will identify the species for you for free. If you're not in the US they'll still do it for a nominal charge if I recall correctly.