Bought a $400 moisture meter and it's the only reason I didn't ruin a walnut table
I was about to start finishing a live edge slab I'd been drying for a year. The old 'knock test' said it was ready. The meter showed a 16% reading in the core, which is way too high. Letting it dry another six months saved me from a finish that would have cracked and peeled in weeks. Who else actually uses one of these, or do you still trust the old methods?
My grandpa built his whole house with just a hand saw and a hammer. The stuff he made lasted longer than anything I see today. They just knew how to work the material.
My buddy almost lost a whole batch of cherry for a dining set. He air dried it for two years, figured it was good. Borrowed a meter on a whim. The reading was like 19% in the middle. He would have glued it all up and had joints failing in a year. That little gadget saved him thousands in wood and time.