# What to do with sawdust?



## b0y9ggz (Aug 20, 2013)

So, now that we are collecting all this saw dust and chips, any clever ideas on what to do with everything we collect, other than throw it in the trash? And, are there certain reuse things we should not do (because of toxicity or something)?


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## Dan3103 (Mar 24, 2015)

I was wondering the same thing. I know planer/jointer shavings made from solid wood can make great compost. 

Plywood/engineered wood has a lot of glue in it that would not be suitable for composting. I hate just tossing that stuff in the garbage if there's an alternate solution. So, tagged for someone's awesome idea!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I worked on a old house one time someone used shavings for insulation in the attic. I hope they had good insurance as it had wires running all through it.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*some sawdust is "toxic"...*

I have heard that Walnut sawdust will kill plants in the garden. I don't use much Walnut so I compost all the rest of mine...Oak, some Maple or Pine. I also think Walnut is not good for animal bedding..I donno?

I collect all the leaves, grass clippings, sawdust and chips and then cover them with dirt for the winter. I turn the pile occasionally and in about a year or by fall I have some pretty rich soil. 

There is a composting bacteria you can buy to speed up the process. 

Some horse farms use sawdust in their bedding and I would suspect other animal farmers could use it also....chickens, goats etc. I would really check out if any other sawdust is "toxic" to animals.


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

I use it for mulch when planting grass.


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## CherryWoodWorker (Nov 11, 2012)

Can you make wood putty out of saw dust?


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## Kansas Gary (Nov 13, 2014)

Walnut is defiantly toxic to horses. But oak, ash, cherry, pine, are fine for horses. I usually give mine to a friend that uses it for horse bedding material....


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

For "sawdust", the kind you get from a table or bandsaw, I just bag it and stick it out for trash collection. You could do something like compress it into bricks for a wood stove, but I don't have a stove so I don't bother. For chips and shavings, like you'd get from a jointer or planer, if they don't end up in the same bag as the dust I burn them with all my scrap off cuts


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

I use all of my sawdust as mulch. Use what few chips I get also. Just do not get many chips as very seldom use planer. 

Sometimes it goes on mulch pile and sometimes directly around plants.

Do not worry about glue in plywood. It is so thoroughly ground up by saw blade that it is going to cause no harm unless there is a lot of it that is water soluble.

George


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## woodchux (Jul 6, 2014)

However you choose to "dispose" of sawdust, it probably should be compatible with environmental codes. Heard some large lumber cutting/milling businesses do recycle sawdust into particle board, but don't know if that process is profitable. Be safe.


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Good one Biggrbird.....

Always open for discussion.We build,from scratch,DC systems.

Have a slight "issue" with a particular surface grinder.The question...as it relates to our shop is whether we keep it "collected"....in house,or....shoot it outside.

We'll probably engineer two completely different systems......possibly a third.Letting the chips(ha,ha)fall where they may......It's one of those things that each shop has to deal deal with.


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## sanchez (Feb 18, 2010)

Mine goes into one of my compost bins


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

Steve Neul said:


> I worked on a old house one time someone used shavings for insulation in the attic. I hope they had good insurance as it had wires running all through it.


Shavings were a common method of insulation at one time, they had to be topped up as they settled over time so only half the wall would be insulated.

The house I grew up in, built in 1943 had them, it is vacant but still standing today.


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## Just Plain Bill (Apr 15, 2015)

Biggrbird2013 said:


> So, now that we are collecting all this saw dust and chips, any clever ideas on what to do with everything we collect, other than throw it in the trash? And, are there certain reuse things we should not do (because of toxicity or something)?


 
I always save a bag full (wood pellet bags or similar work great). It's great for soaking up about any liquid spills that happen. In the winter carry a bag full in your car. It's the greatest for traction, some say better than sand.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

blueberry plants love it, we also put ours in the chicken nesting boxes. eggs stay cleaner...


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## bauerbach (Mar 25, 2012)

you can mix it with melted candle wax for a fire starter. never tried it myself.

My saw dust goes in the trash. I dont care to sort good dust from bad.


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## blackpearl (Jul 20, 2012)

I thought wood pulp is the main ingredient in paper-making. Can it not be sent to a paper manufacturer?


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I just dump it in the woods. Sometimes I dump it in four wheeler trails to keep the mud down.


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## bauerbach (Mar 25, 2012)

blackpearl said:


> I thought wood pulp is the main ingredient in paper-making. Can it not be sent to a paper manufacturer?


an interesting thought... I suspect they are probably very picky about the type of wood they start with. Im sure it effects their process and product. 

a free drum of assorted dust might be a liability that they dont care to deal with.


Might be some ETSY types out there that make their own paper or whatever that might be interested...


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## guglipm63 (Feb 27, 2013)

a walkway in my garden









all except walnut


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## blackpearl (Jul 20, 2012)

You have an enviable garden, guglipm63. Beautiful!

How does the sawdust take rain, waterspray etc? Does it start to decay?


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## Rogue Oranum (Dec 12, 2014)

I have some free range chickens in my yard, so with the sawdust I use it as bedding in my chicken coop floor, it works wonders.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

*I make fire starters*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x7jfYqcCMQ


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## guglipm63 (Feb 27, 2013)

blackpearl said:


> You have an enviable garden, guglipm63. Beautiful! How does the sawdust take rain, waterspray etc? Does it start to decay?


It is on fairly flat land so it rarely moves, only in a rainstorm where it comes down at a rate over an inch an hour, and even then not much runoff. Once it's down a couple weeks it stays. The wind won't stir it up. As for decomposition it takes a few years. Last year I removed the bottom 1 inch that had decomposed, it took 10 years.


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## Rob Brown (Jul 7, 2009)

*sawdust*

I have seen where it was used as insulation in old ice houses, but not residential. They also used to soak it in kerosene and burn it along the switch points on the railroad to keep switches from freezing in the winter. Most of mine goes in the fire pit.


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## Scinzon (Apr 29, 2015)

1. Colorize it and make sawdust sand paintings.

2. Make Home-Made Wood Filler with saw dust and glue.

3. Use larger dust in pet cages for you know what.

4. Use it to clean your hands and tools from glue. Works well for any glue from wood glue to epoxy and even Super-Glue.

5. Make termite food (in case you have a pet termite colony).

6. Sell it. You just might me able to do that.

7. Use your imagination. (_Just wanted to have seven items in the list because I like the number._)


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## tchara (Aug 1, 2015)

I saw a video online once, where a guy made home made floor sweep with his saw dust. I think one of the ingredients was like a cooking oil. It's been awhile and don't remember.


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## NickB (Sep 24, 2013)

Wife makes fire starters kinda like Kenbo's. She buys candles from the goodwill stores for like $.01 ea, breaks them up and uses the wicks and adds citronella oil and old potpourri. Occasionally she'll add food coloring (red and blue for the 4th of July for example). Great little gifts. The shavings from forstner bits seem to be prime for this.


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## DerlC (Mar 5, 2013)

Kansas Gary said:


> Walnut is defiantly toxic to horses. But oak, ash, cherry, pine, are fine for horses. I usually give mine to a friend that uses it for horse bedding material....


I sell my shavings! I live about 65 miles east of Dallas, TX and a man that owns horses likes to use my cedar shavings for the horse bedding material. I bag it up in 55 gallon bags and he drives over here and picks it up. He pays me $5.00 a bag for them. Two months ago I had 6 bags that made his trip worth while. I've got 3 bags now and will have another 2 bags by the end of next week. 
Like Kansas Gary said, find a horse breeder, horse stables or anyone that takes good care of their horses and cut a deal with them. At $5.00 a bag it's not a lot but it is better than throwing them in the landfill and the $5.00 covers the cost of the 55 gallon bags with a little left over to cover the cost of my glue each month. Some times I have enough for minnow money.:boat::vs_laugh:


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## redeared (Feb 7, 2019)

Compost pile,garden, and lawn but I also mix it with shredded paper in a press from the 70's that makes bricks for the fireplace for my kids that use them.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

I just realized that we have two threads on this subject. Both are open under "new posts" today.


George


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## DerlC (Mar 5, 2013)

GeorgeC said:


> I just realized that we have two threads on this subject. Both are open under "new posts" today.
> 
> 
> George


:vs_laugh:Yeah, your right! :vs_coffee::laugh2:


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Here is a link to the other thread, which is older, longer, and was started by Cricket. I suggest that we all move there. I have made the same suggestion in similar situations; it rarely works.

The thread:
https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f97/what-do-you-do-all-sawdust-114097/

My response, which also responds to this thread:
https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f97/what-do-you-do-all-sawdust-114097-post2119679/#post2119679


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## evilboweivel (Nov 3, 2018)

City has separate pickup for yard waste, sawdust/chips go into that.
When they are not picking up during the winter it goes on an old garden where I grew up at.


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## KevTN (Jun 27, 2020)

If you have cedar shavings and such Athens local animal shelter could use it for the beds. I have not done that but a friend of mine has.


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## lexadmn (Jan 5, 2018)

Rogue Oranum said:


> I have some free range chickens in my yard, so with the sawdust I use it as bedding in my chicken coop floor, it works wonders.


Same here.
All of it goes out a 4 inch by 40 foot pipe to a pile away from the shop. Other than the chickens, and a little for the garden - we have no use for it.

Once it gets several feet deep, I just spread it out with the tractor.

KC


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## David Nickell (Jul 6, 2020)

In another life time, I worked for a large animal vet for six years. Saw dust for horse stalls is common practice, but walnut must be avoided at all costs...it can be deadly for horses.


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## CharleyL (Jan 13, 2019)

If you live in a heavily populated area, you could put it in Amazon boxes, carefully seal the boxes with packing tape, and put them outside your front door. The packages will likely be picked up that afternoon.

*** Grin ****

Charley


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