Official Luthiers Forum!

Is there any way to measure the moisture content of wood without purchasing rather expensive measuring devices?

I have a pretty inexpesive moisture meter I bought from HF it is not real accurate but close enough for government work I paid $20 for it I believe it has a 5% (+/-2.5%) error factor if I remember right.MichaelP38945.68875

The other method is to weigh your wood, and then use data from the internet on expected weights for that species at different moisture contents, not 100% accurate as wood varies in density, but it will give you a good idea.

The classic method is to take a sample of the wood in question, weigh it
accurately, and stick it in an oven to dry it out. Weigh it after it's been
cooking a while, then stick it back in. Weigh it again, and when it quits
losing weight you know it's totally dry.

Subtract the dry weight from the wet, divide the result by the wet weight and
you have an exact reading of the moisture percentage in your wood.

Don't just take a sliver off the end, because that will likely to be drier.

_________________
Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

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You could ask the seller. Producers normally monitor the MC after the wood is sliced up & won't offer it for sale until the MC is down to 10% or so.
They will usually know roughly when the wood was cut & what RH it was stored in afterwards. Both are good clues to how dry the wood will be.
In an average humidity area, air dried wood will probably not be lower than 10% MC. If your wood was sliced from kiln dried stock, it could be lower, depending on the storage conditions.
I always store wood in a warmed cupboard for a few weeks at least before I start working it. (The RH averages 70% or more in my area)