Alternative uses for sawdust
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- wannabewoodworker
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 626
- Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2010 11:36 am
- Location: Milford, CT
Alternative uses for sawdust
Well having made a lot of sawdust the past week orso and while cleaning up the garage this evening the thought occurred to me that there has to be some kind of use for all this damn sawdust other than to just throw it in the garbage can??? Man does it accumulate fast! I used my jointer a lot for my Expanding Worktable project I am working on as the plans call for mostly 3" widths so I had to use my jointer mainly to shave the 2X stock down to the 3" dimension. I did use my bandsaw as well but the jointer was so much easier to use and made the boards perfect. Boy that tool really makes some shavings.......... I had a mountain of shavings all around the leg of my Mark V where the jointer is mounted............. I really love this tool now that I have it adjusted properly it just works. Anyhow I was just wondering if there were other ways to utilize the waste from these types of operations????
Michael Mayo
Senior IT Support Engineer
Soft Designs Inc.
albiemanmike@gmail.com
1960's SS Mark VII, 1954 Greenie, 1983 Mark V, Jointer, Bandsaw, Jigsaw, Dewalt Slider, Delta Super 10, Delta 8" Grinder, Craftsman compressor, Drill Doctor, Kreg PH Jig, Bosch Jigsaw, Craftsman Router and Table...........and adding more all the time....
Senior IT Support Engineer
Soft Designs Inc.
albiemanmike@gmail.com
1960's SS Mark VII, 1954 Greenie, 1983 Mark V, Jointer, Bandsaw, Jigsaw, Dewalt Slider, Delta Super 10, Delta 8" Grinder, Craftsman compressor, Drill Doctor, Kreg PH Jig, Bosch Jigsaw, Craftsman Router and Table...........and adding more all the time....
an idea
I don't know about a mountain of shavings, but when I have a pile of sawdust/shavings from my lathe, I gather them into a bag and use it as oil dry with working on the cars or mowers. You can also put it in the garden. If you don't have a garden, you should consider putting one in as we all should because $4 a gallon gas is going to drive groceries straight thru the roof.
'55 Greenie #292284 (Mar-55), '89 SS 510 #020989, Mark VII #408551 (sold 10/14/12), SS Band Saw, (SS 500 #36063 (May-79) now gone to son-in-law as of 11-11), Magna bandsaw, Magna jointer 16185 (May-54), Magna belt sander SS28712 (Dec-82), Magna jigsaw SS4397 (Dec-78), SS biscuit joiner, Zyliss (knockoff) vise, 20+ hand planes, 60s Craftsman tablesaw, CarbaTec mini-lathe, and the usual pile of tools. Hermit of the Hills Woodworks, a hillbilly in the foothills of the Ozarks, scraping by.
I have emptyed my DC bag onto the lawn and racked it in.
SS 500(09/1980), DC3300, jointer, bandsaw, belt sander, Strip Sander, drum sanders,molder, dado, biscuit joiner, universal lathe tool rest, Oneway talon chuck, router bits & chucks and a De Walt 735 planer,a #5,#6, block planes. ALL in a 100 square foot shop.
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Bob
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Bob
Planer and jointer stuff is used in nest boxes for my wife's rabbits. The finer dust usually goes into the compost with all the manure from the rabbits. It has to be well mixed or you get a big clump that is not very usable. After the nest boxes are cleaned, it all goes into compost. I sometimes keep some for oil dry as well. Not all wood is good to but on the yard, but most of the usual stuff I use is ok. All you need is about 80 rabbits and you never have to worry about saw dust again!
Saw dust heals many wounds. RLTW
Dave
Dave
- JPG
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- Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:42 pm
- Location: Lexington, Ky (TAMECAT territory)
I hazard a guess that Farmer uses straw for that purpose. I doubt sawdust would work any where near as well!:rolleyes: BTW what is rabbit muck called(other than fertilizer)?dlbristol wrote:Planer and jointer stuff is used in nest boxes for my wife's rabbits. The finer dust usually goes into the compost with all the manure from the rabbits. It has to be well mixed or you get a big clump that is not very usable. After the nest boxes are cleaned, it all goes into compost. I sometimes keep some for oil dry as well. Not all wood is good to but on the yard, but most of the usual stuff I use is ok. All you need is about 80 rabbits and you never have to worry about saw dust again!
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Goldie(Bought New SN 377425)/4" jointer/6" beltsander/12" planer/stripsander/bandsaw/powerstation /Scroll saw/Jig saw /Craftsman 10" ras/Craftsman 6" thicknessplaner/ Dayton10"tablesaw(restoredfromneighborstrashpile)/ Mark VII restoration in 'progress'/ 10E[/size](SN E3779) restoration in progress, a 510 on the back burner and a growing pile of items to be eventually returned to useful life. - aka Red Grange
╟JPG ╢
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Goldie(Bought New SN 377425)/4" jointer/6" beltsander/12" planer/stripsander/bandsaw/powerstation /Scroll saw/Jig saw /Craftsman 10" ras/Craftsman 6" thicknessplaner/ Dayton10"tablesaw(restoredfromneighborstrashpile)/ Mark VII restoration in 'progress'/ 10E[/size](SN E3779) restoration in progress, a 510 on the back burner and a growing pile of items to be eventually returned to useful life. - aka Red Grange
I'm just curious, after reading the above post, as to what breed of rabbits does your wife have? I raised rabbits a number of years ago and went to many a rabbit shows almost every weekend. I had mostly Californian and some New Zealand Whites. All had pedigree papers that I kept up-to-date.dlbristol wrote:Planer and jointer stuff is used in nest boxes for my wife's rabbits. The finer dust usually goes into the compost with all the manure from the rabbits. It has to be well mixed or you get a big clump that is not very usable. After the nest boxes are cleaned, it all goes into compost. I sometimes keep some for oil dry as well. Not all wood is good to but on the yard, but most of the usual stuff I use is ok. All you need is about 80 rabbits and you never have to worry about saw dust again!
I won a few times, at the rabbits shows, and sold some for breeding stock
Does your wife attend rabbit shows? I always loved to see what my rabbits could do against the better breeders.
I would love to hear more about this subject from you, as I don't have any rabbits now (too hot in Arizona) but still passionate about this animal.
Thanks for sharing.
Jim in Tucson, Arizona
GO BUCKEYES!!
JPG and Jim, Oh my gosh, what have I started? JPG, actually, in the west, we use a lot of wood chips for animal bedding, but you are right that my saw dust is to fine for Farmers needs. As far as I know rabbit crap is just rabbit crap!:D
It is great stuff for fertilizer, it will not burn like some stuff. And she can sell some of it, so I don't have to move it again!!!!
Jim, She raises Mini Lops mostly. There are a few other ones, like Polish? Satin and something else. ( All seem to have identical crap, but different looks). She does show and sell breeding stock, some pets and we eat some. She has all registered stock, except for a few that she has just for pets. Her big thing is the color genetics for the mini lops and she can tell you all you want to know about that. She has won some shows. She has cut back due to caring for her mom and some other family issues, but she still love it. I must say her hobby is self supporting, where mine is not. You can PM me if you want to know more. I will let her tell you more, I have exhausted my knowledge.
It is great stuff for fertilizer, it will not burn like some stuff. And she can sell some of it, so I don't have to move it again!!!!
Jim, She raises Mini Lops mostly. There are a few other ones, like Polish? Satin and something else. ( All seem to have identical crap, but different looks). She does show and sell breeding stock, some pets and we eat some. She has all registered stock, except for a few that she has just for pets. Her big thing is the color genetics for the mini lops and she can tell you all you want to know about that. She has won some shows. She has cut back due to caring for her mom and some other family issues, but she still love it. I must say her hobby is self supporting, where mine is not. You can PM me if you want to know more. I will let her tell you more, I have exhausted my knowledge.
Saw dust heals many wounds. RLTW
Dave
Dave
- robinson46176
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 4182
- Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:00 pm
- Location: Central Indiana (Shelbyville)
JPG40504 wrote: BTW what is rabbit muck called(other than fertilizer)?
I often call it by another name but I shouldn't post it here.
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farmer
Francis Robinson
I did not equip with Shopsmiths in spite of the setups but because of them.
1 1988 - Mark V 510 (bought new), 4 Poly vee 1 1/8th HP Mark V's, Mark VII, 1 Mark V Mini, 1 Frankensmith, 1 10-ER, 1 Mark V Push-me-Pull-me Drillpress, SS bandsaw, belt sander, jointer, jigsaw, shaper attach, mortising attach, TS-3650 Rigid tablesaw, RAS, 6" long bed jointer, Foley/Belsaw Planer/molder/ripsaw, 1" sander, oscillating spindle/belt sander, Scroll saw, Woodmizer sawmill
farmer
Francis Robinson
I did not equip with Shopsmiths in spite of the setups but because of them.
1 1988 - Mark V 510 (bought new), 4 Poly vee 1 1/8th HP Mark V's, Mark VII, 1 Mark V Mini, 1 Frankensmith, 1 10-ER, 1 Mark V Push-me-Pull-me Drillpress, SS bandsaw, belt sander, jointer, jigsaw, shaper attach, mortising attach, TS-3650 Rigid tablesaw, RAS, 6" long bed jointer, Foley/Belsaw Planer/molder/ripsaw, 1" sander, oscillating spindle/belt sander, Scroll saw, Woodmizer sawmill
- robinson46176
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 4182
- Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:00 pm
- Location: Central Indiana (Shelbyville)
In the winter I usually just bag it up and drop the bag in the woodstove. The rest of the time I just scatter it "someplace". There are a lot of advantages to living on a farm.
With the new DC setup it will mostly just blow out to a tiny wooded spot behind the shop.
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With the new DC setup it will mostly just blow out to a tiny wooded spot behind the shop.
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farmer
Francis Robinson
I did not equip with Shopsmiths in spite of the setups but because of them.
1 1988 - Mark V 510 (bought new), 4 Poly vee 1 1/8th HP Mark V's, Mark VII, 1 Mark V Mini, 1 Frankensmith, 1 10-ER, 1 Mark V Push-me-Pull-me Drillpress, SS bandsaw, belt sander, jointer, jigsaw, shaper attach, mortising attach, TS-3650 Rigid tablesaw, RAS, 6" long bed jointer, Foley/Belsaw Planer/molder/ripsaw, 1" sander, oscillating spindle/belt sander, Scroll saw, Woodmizer sawmill
farmer
Francis Robinson
I did not equip with Shopsmiths in spite of the setups but because of them.
1 1988 - Mark V 510 (bought new), 4 Poly vee 1 1/8th HP Mark V's, Mark VII, 1 Mark V Mini, 1 Frankensmith, 1 10-ER, 1 Mark V Push-me-Pull-me Drillpress, SS bandsaw, belt sander, jointer, jigsaw, shaper attach, mortising attach, TS-3650 Rigid tablesaw, RAS, 6" long bed jointer, Foley/Belsaw Planer/molder/ripsaw, 1" sander, oscillating spindle/belt sander, Scroll saw, Woodmizer sawmill