# Can you use Sawdust to help dry lumber?



## JCam (Apr 29, 2013)

Hey guys, I was wondering if you could use sawdust to help dry smaller pieces of lumber?

A decade and some change ago I did my first oil change and failed to tighten the oil filter enough, bad advice from someone who said it only needed to be hand tightened, and when I started the car about three quarts dumped out all over my father's garage. Cleaned most of it up with rags but concrete floor was still extremely slick. I dumped a shop vac full of saw dust over the area and rubbed it in and it was as if nothing had happened after a couple hours.

If I built a simple box, 2×2x3 and filled with saw dust, to throw small branches in that neighbors have discarded would it help to properly pull out moisture from the wood or increase the chances of splitting and warping from drying too quickly.


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## robscastle (May 13, 2012)

Sawdust as you have found out absorbs moisture so it may work in reverse if you cannot reactivate it.

Best to use simple air drying and test for moisture as it seasons.

It will be interesting to monitor the results of the saw dust use just the same


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## redryder (Nov 28, 2009)

I find this to be the fastest, most complete way of drying logs I intend to use and it sucks the moisture out of the shop in general…..........................


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

If your sawdust is very dry to start with it may help. However, it could hold the moisture in just as easy. Proper stacking out of the weather with a fan blowing over it is still the best.


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## JollyGreen67 (Nov 1, 2010)

As us woodturners do - put your small piece in a cardboard box, surrounded by sawdust, check once a week for dryness.


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

If you are in humid environment, the sawdust will absorb the humidity very fast and perhaps creates a slow process of drying time. Those cedar logs you have will hardly ever check or split if you don't introduce heat too fast such as during turning and especially sanding.


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## JCam (Apr 29, 2013)

Thank you for the responses, I appreciate the feedback.


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## GFYS (Nov 23, 2008)

all saw dust is dry right? :/


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## 111 (Sep 2, 2013)

Can you use Sawdust to help dry lumber?

If you light it on fire….:>O


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## JollyGreen67 (Nov 1, 2010)

Well ;o) , I stand corrected about the saw dust in a HUMID environment - but - out here in the wild west of dust dry New Mexico, the saw dust and box method works best.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Good air flow in a dry warm atmosphere works best.


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## rhett (May 11, 2008)

No, the moisture is INSIDE the wood. Sawdust might soak up a bit of moisture from the outside of the wood but in the long run, it would actually retard drying, by restricting airflow around the lumber.

As I was told by a very accomplished turner, the reason greenwood is packed in bags of sawdust, is to slow down the drying of thin turnings, helping to avoid cracks.

Dry heat, moving air and time are the options.


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## Nomad62 (Apr 20, 2010)

Sawdust will slow down the drying as it inhibits air flow around the piece. It will allow the piece to get as dry as the environment it is setting in, but of course no dryer.


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## Post_Oakie (Jul 3, 2012)

You're right about not wanting the pieces to dry too quickly. Better than sawdust, would be to end coat the pieces with a couple of coats of latex paint (any color). I end coat logs with a product called Anchor Seal before putting them on my sawmill, and it really helps. This keeps moisture from moving out through the ends of the pieces too quickly, which is the main cause of splitting. How dry the wood needs to be depends on how you plan to use it. A lot of techniques, such a wedges in a trestle table, allow the wood to shrink even after the piece has been built without damaging it.


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## nineiron (Sep 28, 2013)

Yes sawdust is great for drying green timber after turing.
Simply roughturn the green timber.Place in a bib and surround with the saw dustor shavings from previos turings.
Place in a cool dry place and wait for about 3 mounths.
Timber should be ready to fin ish turn.
NINEIRON.


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## TerryDowning (Aug 8, 2012)

from the wood turner's perspective using shavings (not Sawdust) from the project to regulate moisture content while drying a rough turned item is a proven practice. It actually extends the drying time though and helps control cracking.

I would not use sawdust to accelerate dying lumber or logs though.

Seal the ends to control the moisture content until ready to process. Once processed into lumber, sticker it for drying.


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## BobWemm (Feb 15, 2013)

I live in the Central Coast of Western Australia and the climate here is quite dry. I have a big problem with green turnings cracking so I pack the rough turned piece with the green shavings that have just come off into a cardboard box and sit the box on the concrete floor. The moisture slowly is drawn out and the piece is usually dry enough to finish in 3 - 4 months. 
This reduces the chance of cracking substantially, but I have never tried to dry a log in this manner.
This method sometimes produces spalting.

Bob.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

There are many good ways to dry rough turned items. The main thing is that the drying process goes slowly to avoid cracking. I usually place mine in sealed paper bags in a cool dry place. The dryer your climate the harder to slow down the process. I read in a Swedish turning book that they used to bury turned items into grain bins and I think in this case they were talking about finish turned wet bowls and such.


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## specs (Oct 14, 2013)

I now do mostly artistic woodturning to show in galleries, etc. I prefer to turn green wood,,it cuts easier, no dry sawdust and shavings, and hence no need for a nose mask. However, if one turns the finished piece when green/wet, upon drying it will crack or deform out of round, and is difficult to get a very smooth finish. I have tried dry sawdust at different stages of turning,,,takes too long, messy etc. iNSTEAD, I first turn the green piece dpwn to the approx. shape and a thickness of >1". Put that piece in a brown paper grocery bag, seal, and put that into a pllastic garbage bag. Let sit in the California sun for a day or two, open the outer bag, the inner paper bag is soaked. replace it with a dry paper bag, replace all back into the plastic bag again let sit in the sun. Depending on the siiize of the turning, I may do that two or three times. Once no more wet paper bags, put the turning back on the lathe, and turn down to a wall thiickness of about 1/4". Then put that in a microwave ON DEFROST setting for several 6 minute intervals. (DO NOT use the cook setting,,the wood will catch fire.) Measure the moisture content, and when below 10%, put back on the lathe, and finish turning down to my desired thickness of < 1/8". Yes, the entire sequence is time consuming, but it dries the wood very slowly and I am in control of the mositure content at each step. So far, I have never had any cracking or final distortion. I have tried many other methods of slow dryiing and this one seems to be the most certain and controllable.

Only one exception, and that is Madrone. It is the crankiest wood I have ever turned.. No matter what one does,,,it cracks or deforms. The only "tirick" I have learned is to first boil the blank for about two hours to relax the internal stresses, let cool and then do the turning. Too much trouble,,need a big pot, a hot bonfire, etc. Very much like steaming planking when wooden boat building which once did a lot of when younger. I no longer turn Madrone. Nice grain pattern, but too cranky.

My drying procedure is time consuming and unwielldy. However, while I am doing it for one turning, I am working on several more to go through the same procedure. Hence, time used most efficiently. Roy/Specs.


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