# Uses for sawdust



## Tman1 (Jan 14, 2013)

So what does everybody else do with the mountains of sawdust they collect? Pressure treated and engineered wood dust goes straight in my trash can. But the rest I have piled up in bags in the corner of my shop until I decide what to do with it.


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## croaker (Aug 11, 2012)

All the sawdust from my planer and jointer go to a local farmer for chicken bedding.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Most of the chemicals in wood finishes are quite toxic if/when they enter the aquatic environment.
Not so when they are tangled up, polymerized, set up and/or dried.
I appeal to you and everyone else to keep bags of sawdust and shavings to "complex" wood finishing substances until they are hard and dry. ALL my acrylic paints go into a bag of shavings and sawdust.
When that is one solid, dry lump, it's plastic = out it goes. There is insuffuicient lechate from the polymerized mass to become an environmental issue.
Please. And thank you.


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## Bonedoc (Jan 14, 2013)

I sell mine to the local taxidermist,  for about half what he pays to order it. They use it to dry tumble hides. Works out pretty good for me cause it is just trash


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

I give it to my neighbor to use in her compost bin. She specifically asked me to make sure that I don't include any "engineered wood product" (plywood, MDO, etc.). I also don't plan on including any toxic woods either. 

This was a pain at first, and I decided not to do it anymore. When I told her about my decision, she offered to buy my anothergarbage can.....Now it is not that big of a deal for me. She didn't hesitate.... I guess because it really makes a great compost.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Nov 25, 2008)

Bedding for the horses at my parents. Just have to make sure I don't give them certain types though as it is not good for the horses.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

Livestock farmers around (particularly the ones who own "finishing" operations) me actually pay big bucks for it by the truckload. The culled animals are placed in a shed and covered with the sawdust....it can makes a pig disappear in about 8 weeks, I'm told. Then the stuff is put on the fields like manure. That doesn't help the average woodworker much, since I would suspect most of us aren't located near a pig finishing operation. As an aside, that's also what the state highway dept now does with roadkill....instead of hauling it off (mostly deer) they just pile chips/dust on it.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Sawdust I bag and sell to auto repair shops. Wood chips I bag and sell to stables. They can't use certain species, as it's toxic to horses.









 







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## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

I dump it into the garbage bin, although I've saved some cherry to make wood filler, and may do this with some other woods. I have also thought of making a couple of sawdust stoves, just for fun.


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## Rockerbox1 (Jan 21, 2011)

Sounds like everyone does as I want to. I am wanting to get a planet soon, when I do, I will no longer have to pay $6 per bag of pine shavings for my chicken and turkey cools.
2x6s are cheaper than 1x6s, so if I need a couple 1bys, I will buy two bus, plane them down and kill two birds with one stone.


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

croaker said:


> All the sawdust from my planer and jointer go to a local farmer for chicken bedding.


+1 to your choice, I do the same with a chicken farmer and he gives me eggs when I have enough. I use to dump them in the woods, I have 41 acres so I returned them to nature.


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## Crusader (Jan 14, 2013)

I use some of my sawdust to make homemade soupcan fire starters,
some of it I use in my composte pile and some of it goes in old paint cans to dry up the paint as we can't throw away old half used paint
in the trash, which I completely agree with. The local law says you can use things like kitty litter, but I found sawdust works just as well.
And I have a pesty neighbor that always wants some, for what I do not know.


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## STAR (Jan 1, 2008)

Crusader;465100[B said:


> ]I use some of my sawdust to make homemade soupcan fire starters,[/B]
> some of it I use in my composte pile and some of it goes in old paint cans to dry up the paint as we can't throw away old half used paint
> in the trash, which I completely agree with. The local law says you can use things like kitty litter, but I found sawdust works just as well.
> And I have a pesty neighbor that always wants some, for what I do not know.



Crusader.

What is the go with this Soup can firestarters? Can you expand a bit and then tell me how safe it is.

Anything to do with heating, fuel for my heater etc I am all eyes and ears.

Pete


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## Hammer1 (Aug 1, 2010)

At times, I can generate 4 or 5 55 gal. bags of saw dust per week when doing a lot of surface planing. I'm also a farmer. I'm very careful about using wood shop sawdust around animals, I only use hay for bedding. I take my dust to a friends sawmill and dump it with his. A wood pellet company comes and collects it all, mountains worth. Otherwise, I'd have a mountain of it. I keep my dust clean, no floor sweepings.


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## gideon (May 26, 2010)

I know some cermaics artists who use hardwood sawdust for raku firing during the glazing process. I give a bunch of it to them.


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## Crusader (Jan 14, 2013)

STAR said:


> Crusader.
> 
> What is the go with this Soup can firestarters? Can you expand a bit and then tell me how safe it is.
> 
> ...


Well there are just really good fire starters. I usually make about 20 or 30 of these every fall. I give away a bunch to some friends
What you do is first save your clean soup cans:thumbsup: Then when you have a fair amount of good clean sawdust, you line a soup can with just enough wax paper to to go around the inside once, don't worry about lining the bottom. Loosely pack with sawdust.
Now you need to melt your parafin wax, be careful! wax can explode.
When you have the melted wax ready, ladle into the soup cans, you may need a stick to help the wax settle in the wood
and let them set up, I put them in the freezer. When they set, they shrink up alittle bit and slide right out!
Then when you want a fire starter just slice a 1/2" or so and wrap that rascal in a sheet of old newspaper and light it. It really works great and it only takes one to get a nice blaze going.
One soup can will usually make about 6 starters.


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## STAR (Jan 1, 2008)

Crusader said:


> Well there are just really good fire starters. I usually make about 20 or 30 of these every fall. I give away a bunch to some friends
> What you do is first save your clean soup cans:thumbsup: Then when you have a fair amount of good clean sawdust, you line a soup can with just enough wax paper to to go around the inside once, don't worry about lining the bottom.* Loosely pack with sawdust.*
> *Now you need to melt your parafin wax,* be careful! wax can explode.
> *When you have the melted wax ready, ladle into the soup cans*, you may need a stick to help the wax settle in the wood
> ...



Thank you for the reply.

After you mentioned Soup Can fire starters I googled it because I had never heard of it. A few questions to clarify what I have bolded.

I think I know what wax paper is but you say after inserting the wax paper loosely add sawdust. How much sawdust do you put in the can. 

You then said melt paraffin wax, where did that come from. and how much do you pour in the tin. Google sort of skims over the paraffin wax bit like that too.

Sorry for me being so dumb.

Pete


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## Fins59 (Oct 16, 2011)

I also use my sawdust for firestarters for my wood stove. I collect small packaging containers like egg cartons, the waxy half gallon milk/orange juice containers, any small food packaging boxes. Sometimes cut them to preferred size. I cut the egg cartons and milk cartons in half to make them into a "tray". You only need a small container/tray.
Then I fill them (about an inch or so deep) with yard debri I collect over summer (twigs, wood chips, crumbled dry leaves, etc) and add sawdust - No wax needed - and then set these fire starters on a few sheets of crumpled newspaper. Put some kindling on top of all this.
So far this heating season (it's been a long one) I have had 100% sucess ( 1 match each start). They really come in handy this time of year. Sometimes have to start fire 2 or 3 times a day.


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## Fins59 (Oct 16, 2011)

Fins59 said:


> I also use my sawdust for firestarters for my wood stove. I collect small packaging containers like egg cartons, the waxy half gallon milk/orange juice containers, any small food packaging boxes. Sometimes cut them to preferred size. I cut the egg cartons and milk cartons in half to make them into a "tray". You only need a small container/tray.
> Then I fill them (about an inch or so deep) with yard debri I collect over summer (twigs, wood chips, crumbled dry leaves, etc) and add sawdust - No wax needed - and then set these fire starters on a few sheets of crumpled newspaper. Put some kindling on top of all this.
> So far this heating season (it's been a long one) I have had 100% sucess ( 1 match each start). They really come in handy this time of year. Sometimes have to start fire 2 or 3 times a day.


Forgot another important ingredient - dryer lint and dryer sheets.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

STAR: The parafin wax was used back in the old days as a means of sealing the tops of home made preserves, like fruit jellies and jams. Still carried here in grocery & hardware stores.
Slabs of wax in hobby/craft stores for the hand-made candle people.
Old candle stubs would work every bit as well. Almost all waxes melt in the range of 50-70C.
So you can get what you need with a double boiler arrangement with no risk of a parafin fire.
I float a bowl of wax chunks in a larger pot of near-boiling water = perfect.


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## Crusader (Jan 14, 2013)

There are many different ways to make a fire starter, I just threw this out there because of the sawdust thread. 
As far as the parfin goes and the amount of sawdust, I usually just fill about half way then pour in some wax and then fill the can with more sawdust and more wax. Pretty simple really.
Here's a link to some wax Amazon.com: Wax General Purpose for Candles, Canning- 1 pound Block: Arts, Crafts & Sewing

It's pretty cheap, well here in the States anyway.

I carry cotton balls smeared with petrolium jelly in my survival bag.
Get a good spark on one of those and you have a great outdoor
firestarter! :thumbsup:


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## beaner5463 (Mar 13, 2013)

When a bag gets full we take enough so we have something to start with the wood stove, but when don't need anymore it either goes out to the burn pile or to the cattle corral to help control the mud. Yes, some say it make it worse but I only think it helps. Makes the mud become more solid and is not as runny or slick like some think it does.


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## MGP Roofing (Jul 10, 2010)

Most of mine either gets spread under my trees as mulch; I also spread it anywhere mud is a problem, such as on frequently trafficked areas of my yet-to-be landscaped yard. Its a lot easier to clean up a few shavings than it is to clean up mud that gets trampled onto the deck or into the house


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## Oneal-Woodworking (Apr 14, 2013)

croaker said:


> All the sawdust from my planer and jointer go to a local farmer for chicken bedding.


I use the same for the same...

Chicken litter... :yes:


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

Mine gets bagged up and goes into the green can.

BUT

I empty the DC system both before and after working with walnut.


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## guglipm63 (Feb 27, 2013)

Mine gets used as a walkway in my formal garden


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