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Mike McDonald

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There might not be any practical application for this question, but I was wondering: does wood absorb moisture at the same rate it loses it ?

The general rule of thumb is a freshly cut piece takes 1 year for every inch of thickness to reach equilibrium moisture content.

If it was possible to take a piece of wood to 0% moisture and then place it in the same environment as the fresly cut piece, would it take the same amount of time to reach equilibrium moisture content? (Assuming the pieces were the same size and from the same tree)

Probably an academic question, but I figured someone here probably knows...
 
Inch per year pertains to planks in New England sheds, and even that's false.

Great FREE source for information covering your presumption and question here. http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fpl_gtr190.pdf

You'll find that fresh sawed wood will make it to 20% or less - good for poorly heated N.E. - in four or five summer months. Bring it into your house where things are a bit more moderate and you can cut a month or two. Especially if you're heating in winter or air conditioning in summer. To achieve equilibrium may take back those two saved months.

As to change in boards, they could to add or lose (hysteresis) about a % point in a week, according to Hoadley. I've found that optimistic, but not by a lot, based on meter readings.
 
Don't know and can't really answer your question. I frequently dry small wood blanks in the microwave for boxes and smaller items. I dry them until they stop losing weight which I assume is 0 percent moisture content. I let them sit in the house for several days so they reach EMC. If I don't the lid won't fit properly after turning. So they do pick up moisture. Now do they pick it up faster or slower than another piece looses I don't know and I'm not sure why it would make any difference.
 
Mike, here in wet Hawaii my 6% kiln dried work can come to 16% in a couple weeks. Faster if its rainy. If it was to zero which I am not sure it can in nature its still alive no matter how long dead the tree is. A kiln dried bowl say 12 inches across finished in the kiln also. Then brought into my display room to aclimate will grow 1/4 to 1/2 inch across in only a couple days. And 1/16th to 1/8th higher. And this is finished. Poly soaked and all that jazz.
 
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