Test Equipment and Measurement Instrument Blog

If you are serious about woodworking, you know the importance of properly-dried wood. In order to be usable for a construction project, wood must be kiln or air-dried to a moisture level of 19%. But wood that is intended for indoor use— that is, wood intended to be used for woodworking— must have a moisture content level that is less than half that amount, at only 9%.

A tribometer may seem like an incredibly clinical tool; you might assume that a device designed to measure friction has little to do with the “real world.” In fact, tribometers aid in the development of many everyday items, ranging from eye drops to cars to stairs and ramps, making our world a safer place with each use.

A moisture meter is only as good as its readings. If your readings are inaccurate, it can create poor final results, and lots of headaches for you. So how can you be sure that you’ve taken an accurate reading? What can you do to safeguard yourself from an incorrect reading, and the challenges that follow?

If you’ve purchased a Kett moisture meter, you know they are built to last - in fact, there are some of our meters out in the field today that are fully operational and running smoothly after several decades of use, a fact of which we are incredibly proud.

When Kett developed the Riceter over 70 years ago, it was created for farmers in the fields and rice paddies of Japan, empowering them with a portable device that could ensure the quality of their crops. It revolutionized the way moisture could be measured in rice and grains, providing a more predictable, stable way to successfully harvest rice and other grain crops.

Call us biased, but we think there’s something undeniably thrilling about our near infrared (NIR) moisture meters. Don’t believe us? The game-changing capabilities of our NIR meters will have an impact on your company that will have you feeling just as enthusiastic as our team here at Kett does about them.

Last time we talked about tribometers and how they're used to keep machinery and your employees safe. Below is a video demonstration some of the features of our H37 3D Portable Friction Tester.

Products and machines can wear, and then eventually wear out. Heavily used objects, like a safety strap, or the traction on a workboot can lose their friction, and eventually become slick or breaking. Additionally, the parts on a machine can wear as a result of too much friction, and the machinery can become dangerous. For these examples and many others, tribometers (friction meters) are an important way to maintain the proper amount of friction while still monitoring the amount of wear something has encountered.

Using a moisture meter removes so much guesswork and approximation from daily tasks. With accurate readings and reliable tools like the ones we offer, it’s easy to have more uniform results in everything from grain storage to papermaking to woodworking, and even food packaging and beauty products manufacturing.