My thought would be to invest in a moisture meter. To avoid a costly error the cost would be far less than a mistake.
Wood should be around 10% or so for interior applications.
Exterior doors are slightly different but I wouldn't go above 12%.
Interior doors should be 10% or less. JMO.
Maple is sometime kinda weird anyway and may move after you start working with it.

 

Any recommendations for a moisture meter. The last time I researched them, I didn’t find any that seems all that accurate, particularly on thicker wood.

 

As far as testing thick wood you really don't no but if you cut a small piece off one end you can then test the core of the wood.

 

Mine is a cheaper pin type. I don't know how accurate it is.
I'll test it on some really dry wood I've had inside for years and let you know what it reads.
I would check You Tube for reviews.
First hand experience is better than Amazon's star ratings.....

As far as equilibrium point, I wait 3 weeks.

 

I bought a pin type meter from Penn State Industries at least 30 years ago. Paid around $35.00 if I recall. I had access to a wood lot, the owner wanted to remove all the trees . I sawed 30+ tress and cut the limbs for firewood. I spent 8 days loading the trees and larger limbs on a dump truck. Off loaded them at my farm. My brother helped.
I did not know how accurate the inexpensive moisture meter was. I found a hardwood yard within driving distance and the owner and i did random checks with his pinless expensive meter and my cheapo. We found my meter was good enough for me, not perfect but within reason. Pretty close on several hardwoods, within reason on pine, spruce and poplar
Paid the mortgage with the trees I sawed into lumber and firewood sales. also was $1000.00 to remove the trees.
I did not have to remove the stumps, his builder did that.

 

I buy kiln dried lumber, and let it sit, stickered on the rack in my basement shop, generally for two to three weeks before I start the rough milling. I'm a hobby woodworker, and I'm rarely in a hurry to finish a project.

 

The suppliers I use have unheated storage buildings. I can usually get rough sawn. I bring it into my basement shop, stack & sticker it and leave it for 2 weeks. I then mark it and cut the pieces I need to rough / oversized length. At this point I check the moisture content in the middle of each cut end. I then "lightly" joint one face and edge, then skip plane it. If the moisture content is 8% or less (kiln dried is typically 6%-8% in my area), it gets stacked & stickered for 3 - 4 days, but longer if the moisture content is higher. Once the moisture content is in the 6%-8% range, I joint & plane to final dimensions.

Below is the moisture meter I have. I bought it years ago when the price was much less. I like it because I can select the wood species and it then gives what I believe is an accurate reading being calibrated for that specific species.

mini-Ligno DX/C - Lignomat

The mini-Ligno DX/C is a reliable accurate moisture meter with multiple calibrations for wood, drywall, bamboo, concrete, etc. Wide range.

lignomatusa.com

 

My shop is climate controlled. I generally will sticker my rough sawn for 2-3 weeks in my shop. When milling I S4S the boards over size and sticker them at a minimum over night. I then mill them to working dimension. That said, it is always a crap shoot with soft maple, which is what prefer. Even more so with hard maple.

 

If you’re buying from a reputable supplier and it’s kiln dried we will use lumber as soon as it hits the floor. If you don’t know your dealer , you better get a moisture meter..

 

When I buy rough sawn lumber, it usually comes from a large supplier and is usually 6 to 8 percent. In my opinion, when you acclimate it to your shop, the moisture content is going to change in its new environment if it is different. My method is to check the humidity of the place where the project will end up and try to acclimate the lumber at that level. Using an inexpensive hygrometer, you can check the humidity and temperature of the new environment.
Amazon.com : Weather Hygrometers
Look at a moisture equilibrium chart below and you will see what the moisture content will eventually be.
EMC - Equilibrium Moisture Content - Lignomat (lignomatusa.com)
Using the EMC chart, you can see the moisture content will eventually end up at 9.2 percent if the temperature is 70 degrees and the relative humidity is 50 percent. You can use a dehumidifier to reduce and maintain the moisture level. If the moisture level is higher in your shop your lumbers moisture will eventually increase.
While you are at the Lignomat website, look at their moisture meters. A pinless meter will read to the depth of 3/4". A good moisture meter is important. We tend to spend a lot of money on tools that just set in the shop unused. We should have used some of that money to buy a moisture meter and avoid future problems.

 

If it's kiln dried, you do not let it acclimate. Wood is more stable when it is drier, and a project is more survivable going from a low MC content to higher. I've even take the time to speak directly with Dr. Eugene Wengert of the forest products lab to confirm all of this information years ago. So take it as you wish.

 

Wood close to just out of the kiln still needs to be equalized. I get my wood delivered and it's off the pile and through the saw to keep the shop making money. But I have noticed that the left over stock that isn't used right away and then is used weeks later is much more stable. It keeps the stable kerf width as you push it through the saw more often. If I could, I would always wait a month or so before using fresh lumber.

But I can't because I have a business to keep moving forward.

 

When I had my woodworking shop I would wait a month before milling. The warehouse that supplies the local stores also sold to me as a manufacturer. I would buy 500- 1,000 bd/ft at a time. It was dried to 8% at one time or another. But it will settle in at an average moisture level that is in your part of the world. Most of the wood I bought came from further south and was different. Aclimating to the average moisture level to your part of the world takes time. And why I actimate to my shop. And then I can use it knowing that it will not be a problem. But I would always try to make things not tooooo tight. Depending on the season that wood will move. A good woodworker needs to figure out how much n build it according.
For your frames. While you are sorting your wood identity the boards that have grain close together, usually the edges. Look at the end of the boards n use the more quarter sawn part where the grain is more perpendicular to the face. They will stay straighter and make the door frame from warping as much.

 

When I had my woodworking shop I would wait a month before milling. The warehouse that supplies the local stores also sold to me as a manufacturer. I would buy 500- 1,000 bd/ft at a time. It was dried to 8% at one time or another. But it will settle in at an average moisture level that is in your part of the world. Most of the wood I bought came from further south and was different. Aclimating to the average moisture level to your part of the world takes time. And why I actimate to my shop. And then I can use it knowing that it will not be a problem. But I would always try to make things not tooooo tight. Depending on the season that wood will move. A good woodworker needs to figure out how much n build it according.
For your frames. While you are sorting your wood identity the boards that have grain close together, usually the edges. Look at the end of the boards n use the more quarter sawn part where the grain is more perpendicular to the face. They will stay straighter and make the door frame from warping as much.

When I'm building inset doors in the winter they get a 3/32th margin. In the summer a 5/64th. I know in the winter they will shrink and the gap will increase. You have to think of the time of year you are currently building and realize what the season will do to expand or contract the wood. Fall is always the best season to build because temps and humidity are more average and the size is going to increase the same in the summer as it decreases in the winter. In the NE that is.

 

I’ve found southern and northern oak are totally different in movement..

 

If we to wait on kiln dried wood to acclimate . shops would either have to have a large storage area or just fold. We will start milling wood the day it comes in. I’ve worked in a lot of cabinet shops in 29 years and nobody is acclimating kiln dried wood..

I worked at Jakobe furniture for 7 years and we used it as soon as we needed it..


Now if one wants to sit on lumber till they feel it’s ready, that great , but its not a fact.

When Im building and installing full inset cabinet doors, the house is acclimated. You do too small of a gap, your just asking for service calls..

 

I’ve usually tried to make my gaps the thickness of a popsicle stick. That gap seems pleasing, and popsicle sticks are a ready source of shims.

 

Everybody will make the gaps different. As long as they are correct , straight and it looks good.

 

Now I’ll mention this as I have been on several woodworking forums over the last 20 years.,I found that cabinet guys don’t usually get along because they’re opinionated. A 3/32 gap, popsicle gap, 1/16 , 1/8, etc is all good.

Most veteran cabinet makers are great guys/gals. Only thing separating us is style and quality. If you have quality, it’s just the style of cabinetry you make..

 

I like 5/64ths (2mm). But for bigger doors summertime with that gap can lead to rubbing of pairs. So I've gone to 3/32nds to solve the issue. Plus the fact that with Euro Hinges start having issues right around 2mm's it's better to use 3/32nds

 

You have to be very careful with full inset on a tight gap. You can get away with it on a small piece of furniture, but add drawers, several drawers into one Single piece and you could have a puzzle from hell. Always keeping in mind the cabinet might twist, floor settle, etc

 

I use moisture meters in design and legal situations. Pin type is the way to go and the pins need to be inserted as deeply as possible to get accurate readings. Surface reading on finished surfaces will work, but only on relatively thin stock like 3/4”, so beware that the readings will be less reliable and accurate as the thickness increases.

 

I have a stack of Norfolk Pine that i milled to 3/4" and stickered for a neighbor. I need to move it close to the shop and get some more of it milled up. i cut an inch off of one of the boards and it measured 12% which really surprised me with the really high humidity down here. I am going to start plaining it and then T&G for ceiling planks. when i bring some into the shop to start working on it, should i sticker it, or just stack it?

 

Hi Mike, the good news is that most of the conifers tend to be more stable than the hardwoods, so I think you’ll be fine.

Depending on how accurate your moisture meter is, your 12% MC could easily be within the meter’s margin of error (3%-4% is pretty common for many of the meters).