A Guide to Wood Moisture & Seasonal Care

Caring for Your Wooden Ball

Understanding Wood Moisture

Wood is a living material — even after it has been turned, finished, and sent out into the world. Its cellular structure continues to exchange moisture with the surrounding air, expanding when it absorbs humidity and contracting as it dries. For a hand-turned wooden ball this movement is especially pronounced: the piece is circular, and any uneven expansion creates stress across the grain that the wood must resolve one way or another.

The figure that matters most is moisture content (MC) — the weight of water in the wood expressed as a percentage of the wood's oven-dry weight. At Farwinger we turn and finish our pieces to a target moisture content of 6–8%, the equilibrium point for a well-heated British interior.

A practical rule: keep your wooden pieces away from direct heat sources (radiators, log fires) which dry the air dramatically, and away from cold, damp rooms such as garages, utility rooms, and unheated outbuildings. A central, heated living space is ideal year-round.

The Birmingham Climate

Birmingham sits in the English Midlands at roughly 140 m above sea level — far enough inland to escape coastal salt air but still subject to the westerly fronts that roll in from the Atlantic. Relative humidity across the city typically runs between 60% and 80% throughout the year, with the dampest conditions arriving in late autumn and the months of November through February.

Summers in Birmingham are milder and drier — July and August can bring relative humidity as low as 55% on clear afternoons — giving wood a natural opportunity to stabilise. Winters, by contrast, combine high outdoor humidity with the drying effect of central heating running at full capacity indoors, creating a sharp difference between the air outside and the air inside your home.

Live Birmingham Conditions

Current outdoor conditions give a useful guide to what your indoor air will be absorbing over the coming hours. Check this before deciding whether to move a display piece or apply a fresh coat of oil.