Hi Jeff, Even a moisture meter will not do you much good on a finished panel. You must make a fresh cut into the wood to get an accurate reading with a meter. Here's a better way: Weigh your wood before and after. Get a postal or other accurate scale. Weigh your wood, then give it a few days and weigh it again. If it has lost weight, it has lost moisture. I weigh most of the good stuff I buy as soon as it is acquired - write the date and weight on it, then put it in my attic - it gets pretty warm up there. If when it is weighed after a few days and it has lost weight (moisture), back into the attic it goes. I will not use it until it ceases to lose weight!
not to be overly contrarian but this seems a bit impractical from my perspective. i recently glued up 2 side panels for a dresser that were 42x20". what kind of scale should i use? how does knowing the weight/mc of the panel prevent movement? if the humidity of your shop is different from your attic, there is potential for movement as the MC of the panel changes.