a can of sawdust

It all depends on where you live. Around my area people want it to compost. In other areas people treat it like toxic waste so they have to bag it and bury it in plastic (landfills). Check to see what people in your area want is all I could say. That seems to be the best advice. I have read this same thing over and over on this site.

Since I’ve only been dealing with maple and cherry, I’ve been composting it as of late. I hear some woods though are toxic in the garden. Depending on the wood species, I believe animal shelters will take it for bedding but you’ll have to check with local ones to see their policy.

-- - Eric Indianapolis, IN

You could make a ring. :) Seriously, there are folks that use it. Try advertising on CL to give it away. Or take it up in an airplane and dump it out. Its called “Giving back to the forrest”.

-- Backer boards, stop blocks, build oversized, and never buy a hand plane--

I have a 55 gallon bag lining the bottom of my dust collector and when it gets full I throw it in the trash to be hauled off with the rest of the garbage.

In the past I had people saying they wanted it on several occasion…one person wanted it for his hog pens and another wanted it for the garden… but when i put the bags aside and called them they tended to not get picked up and just sat there for the longest time.

What if you are cutting plywood,mdf,laminates,etc.All thoses have glues of some sort in them so you would be having to deal with that issue as well.if it is just solid wood and no other material,it should biodegrade with no problems.

Sawdust.

For some of it I make a sweeping compound. 3/4 fill a 20 Litre pail them pour in 2 or 3 litres of the cheapest cooking oil you can find. Mix it up a little. Then throw it on you concrete floor when you sweep-up. Does an excellent job of keeping the dust under control. Also use to mop-up the inevitable oil spills you get if you work on anything mechanical. I keep a small pile on the metal work shop floor all time and constant sweep it around the floor after any work that creates dust. Once it get to spoiled throw it out in the trash and use some more. Plenty more where that came from if you are a woodworker as well.

Thanks jb

-- Playing with wood and metal for the last 50 years, driving and building Land Cruisers for the last 40. Experience is what you get when you don't know what you are doing.

Check with anyone who raises horses (and perhaps other animals.) With the exception of walnut, most commonly used woods can be used as bedding material in stalls.

The shop I once worked in had all the dust collector shavings cleaned out by a horse rancher. Whenever we ran walnut, we just disconnected the system and used a portable vacuum as the walnut was dangerous for the horses.

That rancher was very happy to come by for the free shavings and saw dust and we didn’t have to worry about disposal.

Good luck. Cheers!

-- Dave; Lansing, Kansas

I make huge amounts of shavings and sawdust. My neighbor is glad to come get it and use it for bedding for his dairy farm. I have a 2 stage box that it 4×4 x 6 and have it on a trailer. When its full I call him..

-- mike & judy western md. www. pvwoodcrafts.com pvwccf1@verizon.net

Age it, add some nitric acid and make some nitrocellulose! Nothing like explosives in the workplace!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrocellulose

(NOTE: DO NOT DO THIS… EVER!!!!)

In all seriousness though, I’d Just mix it with some basic hard glue (not the PVA stuff), and make some “boards” and blanks for carving.

Hell, save yourself the trouble of getting molds for the stuff by investing in some silicone coated bakeware. The glue will probably not adhere to the silicone, and will be easy to remove.

Contact people who do gardening (post on Craigs List maybe?) and let them know you have this stuff, it’s free if they come and get it. I have people who get pickup truck loads from me for their gardens. They especially pester me in the fall (Sep, Oct) when there is a high probability for below freezing nights around here.

-- Don, Diamond Lake Custom Woodworks - http://www.dlwoodworks.com - "If you make something idiot proof, all they do is make a better idiot"

Better floor dry than anything you can buy commercially for mechanics.

-- http://wddsrfinewoodworks.blogspot.com/

Thanks for all the ideas. I will check the local farms to see if they are interested. Making a ring looked pretty cool. Waste not want not. Thanks

Bring it on ,Can use it for my blueberry bushes.

-- In His service ,Richard

I’ve also seen sawdust fire logs, although I’ve never personally tried it…here is a tutorial on how to make them

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bio-fuel-briquettes-compress-paper-pulp-and-sawdu/

-- - Eric Indianapolis, IN

I live outside the city so I dump all my dust and shavings out back on my property. I am not really composting it to use as fertilizer but rather to just get rid of it. I use my hand plane shavings in the winter in my wood stove to help start the fires.

-- Dan - "Collector of Hand Planes"