I bought a 5/6" x 4" ceder fence board for a spacer on hinge for a pump
cover, not thinking that it was green wood. I used my jointer to smooth
the surface and reduce it to the 3/8" thickness I needed. In that
process, I realized that the wood was very wet.

Doing some online research, the most frequent opinion seemed to be to
allow 4-5 weeks fence boards to dry before painting. I put the board in
my furnace room, which my gas water heater keeps quite warm. A day or so
later, I thought to weigh the board with my kitchen scale at 562g. A few
days later, it weighed 499g. a few days later it was down to around 482g
and seems to be about the same now, a couple of days after that.

I now am wondering if the lack of more weight loss recently might
indicate that it is dry enough to paint now, even though it has only
been maybe a week since I planed it down.

On Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 3:50:23 PM UTC-5, Bob F wrote:
> I bought a 5/6" x 4" ceder fence board for a spacer on hinge for a pump
> cover, not thinking that it was green wood. I used my jointer to smooth
> the surface and reduce it to the 3/8" thickness I needed. In that
> process, I realized that the wood was very wet.
>
> Doing some online research, the most frequent opinion seemed to be to
> allow 4-5 weeks fence boards to dry before painting. I put the board in
> my furnace room, which my gas water heater keeps quite warm. A day or so
> later, I thought to weigh the board with my kitchen scale at 562g. A few
> days later, it weighed 499g. a few days later it was down to around 482g
> and seems to be about the same now, a couple of days after that.
>
> I now am wondering if the lack of more weight loss recently might
> indicate that it is dry enough to paint now, even though it has only
> been maybe a week since I planed it down.

Kilns also require air movement. The desert is a good example. Heat + wind = really dry wood.

If you have access to a moisture meter, that would be ideal. I wonder if you could take the board to a mill and ask for a measurement. You want it below 15 percent or so.