# Saw Dust...All this Saw dust...What can I do with all this saw dust?



## HuntleyBill (Dec 9, 2009)

I have a dust collector bag full of sawdust. When looking at it, there are different colors of chips. Walnut, Spanish cedar, maple, pine, cherry, mahogany etc. Actually all mixed together it looks kinda neat. I got to thinking ( a very dangerous thing for a man to do) How can I reuse this? Is there a way to join these random particles together and say, make some very interesting turnings or, maybe flat pieces for a speckled jewelry box?

So, my question is, before I throw this dust into the garden for fertilizer, is there a way to bond this together to make useful pieces of stock. I know it can be done, I have particle board in the shop but the real question is:

How can we, mere hobbyists and weekend warriors do it?

Your thoughts?????


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

Particle board is made out of sawdust, but they have some super high pressure machines to make it. I can't envision a hobbyist being able to do something like that.

In this area there is a store called "Restore". It accepts donated construction items and resells them so they can be used again (doors, window, light fixtures, etc.) They are affiliated with Habitat for Humanity. They like to get sawdust. They mix it with old paint so they can properly dispose of the old paint. A good cause.


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Thanks Rich, that's great to know. There's a ReStore in my area too.


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## sarahss (Feb 23, 2011)

you could use polyester resin. pen makers use it all the time-one guy even makes blanks out of PR and the skeletons inside the leaves of prickly pear cactus.


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## LisaC (Oct 10, 2009)

If you keep the wood species dust somewhat separated, you could find a natural dyer who might like to purchase the wood dust from you. The sawdust is valuable!


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## Raymond (Mar 12, 2008)

I tried burning it in my pellet stove. Made a awful mess. I now till it into the garden.


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## IkeandBerry (Jun 18, 2009)

If you know anyone who has chickens or small animals they might be interested in using it for bedding.


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## cabmaker (Sep 16, 2010)

I take alot of chips,( planer, shaper,etc.) to a local pet store. She has not had to buy any for several years. I still have to dump most of it though as it may contain too much fine stuff or unwanted species. Good luck with your plight.


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

I use some of mine for fire starters for the fireplace…mix it with old melted candles and pour it into egg cartons. After it hardens you just break off one of the compartments and light it with a match….works great.
The rest of mine goes in the garden. I would think if pet stores take the sawdust, maybe the humane society or pet shelters might use it.


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## Sawdust2 (Mar 18, 2007)

US Composites makes Silmar41 which is one of the resins pen makers use to make blanks.
You can also use Alumilite.
Just google the terms to find out where to get the stuff.
I've used both for making pen blanks. Silmar41 is easier than Alumilite to use but has a pretty pervasive oder.
In either case it would probably make better material if you used pressure to set it.

It could be fun.

Lee


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## saw4fun (Apr 4, 2009)

http://www.pelletmasters.com/products/ I've seen these in a much larger scale but couldn't seem to find the website.


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## quartrsawn (Aug 8, 2009)

I read somewhere certain sawdusts are harmful to animals ,walnut I think is one of them.


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## boardmaker (Mar 8, 2011)

Another vote for the garden.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

You might want to be careful of using black walnut dust/chips in the garden. There is much information available, and it is not all in agreement. Here is a place to start.


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## ken_c (Sep 28, 2009)

compost it in my woods - always hate doing that - would really like to sell it but I know of no buyers in my area. I just composted another 110 gallons of it :-(


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## Greedo (Apr 18, 2010)

a few people come to pick up some sawdust and chips for their chickens or rabbits, but i also keep a bag filled with only sawdust from the tablesaw. we use it to contain oil leaks and spills on the concrete from our farming equipment.
mechanic shops or garages may be interested in that aswell.

other than that we have been thinking about buying a "briket" press that makes logs from sawdust for burning in the stove, but the cost is between €14000 and 20000 for a small unit!


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## barefootguy (Mar 9, 2011)

I prefer to compost any excess sawdust since adding it into the soil in gardens is known to rob the soil of Nitrogen as it breaks down.

I also use sawdust for filtering my Home Made Biodiesel. I make Biodiesel at home (for $1.00, which is great right now) and it when making biodiesel you have to clean the impurities out of it after making it. Turns out that sawdust does a great job of this, although hardwood sawdust is best. Then it can be composted when spent, or burned in wood stoves for great heat output.

We've had friends make us the starter cubes before when we had a wood stove, but they used muffin tins for a larger size. Worked great but now we have a pellet stove so that doesn't work anymore.

Using some to stir into old paint that's almost gone is a good idea, and required around here if you want to dispose of it properly (or for larger amounts they take it and make cheap paint from all the colors).

If you need to give it away, I would suggest running free ads in local papers, craigslist or a yahoo 'Freecycle' group offering to give away any you can't use, and it will go to good uses.


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## DylanC (Jan 29, 2011)

I think in order to get a workable piece of material (i.e. one that could be turned, sawed, sanded, etc.) you would need to apply pressure like others here have said. The hardest part of that would be the mold. You'd need something that you could easily clamp or put in a vice to apply pressure, and that could also be disassembled into a couple of pieces so you could get the material back out. Not an impossible task, but it would take a bit of work, I bet.


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