Wagner Meters Orion® 910 Pinless Wood Moisture Meter (with Backlight)

Always the best.

I had a slow dishwasher leak in the kitchen and had to tear up a large section of the maple flooring. I bought this meter to be certain I had everything dried out and that the moisture content of the underlayment and new flooring had sufficiently balanced before I began installation of the new floor. I had a question on using the meter in Relative mode and also over USB, so I emailed support at Wagner meters. I also mentioned the manual was a little lacking in the Relative mode section. The very next day I received an in-depth reply. They even noted my comment on the section that was lacking in the manual. Here was Tony's response: "You are quite right about the explanation on how to use the Relative mode. I appreciate your bringing this to my attention. I have made a recommendation to amend the manual."Needless to say, I was very pleased with both the product and the support.

I have a saw mill and a woodworking shop. In the past, I simply let wood dry a couple of years in a barn. I bought the meter so I could shorten that time. What I like about the 950 is that it calculates the theoretical equilibrium moisture content. That is, for the temperature and humidity conditions where the wood is stored, what would the lowest moisture to which the wood can dry. With this info, I can increase temperature and/or decrease humidity to reach my target moisture content in a shorter time.

I've bought a couple super cheap probe wood moisture meters. You can read the reviews. Differing moisture readings from all over the board. I've made a couple of projects from wood I thought were air dried enough and weren't. In fact I'm sitting next to a giant maple cookie from my son's first home. I've made the leap into selling projects and making custom projects. One split can lose you a customer and never get a referral. The amount of this meter may cost me two projects to pay for but will likely last me years. I don't kiln dry yet so getting accurate moisture readings is critical. I also have a small sawmill that warranted the purchase. I can now put moisture readings on the rough lumber live edge slabs I sell. From what I've researched this one of the two or three brand goto's for sawyers and has been for years. Tough to beat their reputation. Just made a walnut cookie table a buddy said would sell for $1000 on Etsy. It had consistent 10% reading all over it. Lumber in my stacks read reliably too. So glad I took the plunge.

I've been using a pin meter and thought I was getting fairly accurate readings. When my last table I made curled on the end, I decided to bite the bullet and buy the 910. The reading on the PIN meter read 7.8. When I read it with the 910 it was 16.4. If I had gone with the PIN meter and gone ahead and made the table, I'd have the same problem. So glad I made the purchase.