What To Do With Saw Dust From Dust Collector, LOL

[kmmcrafts]

Anyone else saving their sawdust in case they need to glue it all back up for making more boards.. The price of lumber is making me think the saw dust in my dust collector is probably worth more than the projects I'm making, LOL I read on FB that the reason for the price hikes is due to Covid and the mills only running half capacity.. Not sure how true that is.. I'm just thankful to have enough lumber on hand to get me through about a year +  Also thankful I bought 20 sheets of BB ply right before the prices started creeping upwards.. though I wish I'd have bought some other sizes besides the 1/8" thick.. Now that I'm messing with the CNC a little.. but maybe the prices will keep me pushed back on running it much.. Don't take long to create a lot of scrap on that thing since I barely know what I'm doing, and with the prices of wood, I can't afford scrapping anything.. Might not be long before I'm weighing and bagging up my fine gold dust ( sawdust ) into small baggies and selling it.. 

On a more serious note since I brought it up.. What do you guys do with your sawdust? I take my bags from the DC to my brothers sawmill and dump it into his sawdust pile.. since he sells the stuff to farms and landscapers etc.. Beats throwing it in the trash.. 

[new2woodwrk]

I use some of my dust when I glue patterns - I throw a few handfuls over the top of the board. Keeps the glue off my hands

I also segregate my dust when I make stuff.

When I cut a wood species, I save a bit of dust in spice jars. I sprinkle some on glued joints or glue broken pieces. Then I sand the brake/joint and glue section is usually not visible at all

[WayneMahler]

I was giving mine to a couple sisters for their horses. Can't use walnut, poison to the animals. I do keep some of different species for minor repairs etc. The rest now goes to a local mechanics shop for soaking up oil and stuff. 

[dgman]

I put it in the Green Waste bin as well as wood scraps that will not be used. It gets shredded then composted.

[FrankEV]

It would take a long time for me to collect enough sawdust just from scrolling to be of consern as to where to dispose of it.  Small amounts of pure sawdust can be turned into gardens and will actually improve poor soils. 

However, since I do generate a lot of chips and much heavier sawdust from my router and tablesaw when ripping and profiling wood for frames I, like dgman, will also include it with the yard waste to be picked up by our waste removal service.   Most of the wood scraps I generate will have glue and patterns still attached so they just go into the waste (garbage) bin for our weekly pickup. 

Now when I had my woodworking shop in NC and made furniture and did a lot of turnings,  my collection system could fill up a heavy duty 40 gal garbage bag in just a matter of a few days or sometimes even just a few hours.  I would keep Walnut out of the collector and the multiple bags of sawdust would go to a local Horse farm almost every week or so.

 

[Roberta Moreton]

I have an area outside that is low and stays damp. That is where my sawdust goes. 

[Woodmaster1]

On 4/9/2021 at 9:05 PM, kmmcrafts said:

Anyone else saving their sawdust in case they need to glue it all back up for making more boards.. The price of lumber is making me think the saw dust in my dust collector is probably worth more than the projects I'm making, LOL I read on FB that the reason for the price hikes is due to Covid and the mills only running half capacity.. Not sure how true that is.. I'm just thankful to have enough lumber on hand to get me through about a year +  Also thankful I bought 20 sheets of BB ply right before the prices started creeping upwards.. though I wish I'd have bought some other sizes besides the 1/8" thick.. Now that I'm messing with the CNC a little.. but maybe the prices will keep me pushed back on running it much.. Don't take long to create a lot of scrap on that thing since I barely know what I'm doing, and with the prices of wood, I can't afford scrapping anything.. Might not be long before I'm weighing and bagging up my fine gold dust ( sawdust ) into small baggies and selling it.. 

On a more serious note since I brought it up.. What do you guys do with your sawdust? I take my bags from the DC to my brothers sawmill and dump it into his sawdust pile.. since he sells the stuff to farms and landscapers etc.. Beats throwing it in the trash.. 

As far as Baltic Birch plywood I noticed our supplier says call for prices now. I was going to make a trip to get some but I am hesitant to call for prices. As for saw dust I dump. It on low spots in my yard or take it to the club shop for farmers to pickup.

 

[LarryEA]

I use it as a carpet in my shop.

Actually I save it and use it for traction on the ice in the winter.

[grampa]

buy a brick press. mix sawdust with water (50 50) let stand for a hour then press your brick let dry. burns great in a log burner

[Bill WIlson]

According to my wife, I drag all of my sawdust upstairs.  

[flarud]

On 4/9/2021 at 9:05 PM, kmmcrafts said:

Anyone else saving their sawdust in case they need to glue it all back up for making more boards.. The price of lumber is making me think the saw dust in my dust collector is probably worth more than the projects I'm making, LOL I read on FB that the reason for the price hikes is due to Covid and the mills only running half capacity.. Not sure how true that is.. I'm just thankful to have enough lumber on hand to get me through about a year +  Also thankful I bought 20 sheets of BB ply right before the prices started creeping upwards.. though I wish I'd have bought some other sizes besides the 1/8" thick.. Now that I'm messing with the CNC a little.. but maybe the prices will keep me pushed back on running it much.. Don't take long to create a lot of scrap on that thing since I barely know what I'm doing, and with the prices of wood, I can't afford scrapping anything.. Might not be long before I'm weighing and bagging up my fine gold dust ( sawdust ) into small baggies and selling it.. 

On a more serious note since I brought it up.. What do you guys do with your sawdust? I take my bags from the DC to my brothers sawmill and dump it into his sawdust pile.. since he sells the stuff to farms and landscapers etc.. Beats throwing it in the trash.. 

I'm sure Covid has a lot to do with it for several reasons.  One being the mills were closed for a while.  Another being people didn't go to work and needed something to do at home,, lots of renovations, tree houses, fences, etc. were taking place using up what was available.  I also read somewhere, not sure how true it was.. about 17 years ago a beetle devastated millions of trees in Canada and the affects are being felt now.  I throw my sawdust over my fence,, I'll ask my neighbor what he does with it next time I see him! 

[trackman]

Mine goes to the field. 

[Dan]

The grandkids love tossing handfuls into the firepit and watching the sparkles. I burn most of mine.

[rustynail]

On 4/9/2021 at 9:05 PM, kmmcrafts said:

  Might not be long before I'm weighing and bagging up my fine gold dust ( sawdust ) into small baggies and selling it.. 

 

Kevin can you get me a price list with what different species of wood dust you will be offering and how much per ounce.

Thanks Richard

O and will shipping be included in the price?

[lawson56]

Some I put in my burn barrel, some I keep on hand, to make wood putty.

[Tbow388]

Most of mine just improves the dirt floor of my shop. A lot of it goes up my nose, the rest I track in my house.

[new2woodwrk]

On 4/13/2021 at 5:32 PM, lawson56 said:

Some I put in my burn barrel, some I keep on hand, to make wood putty.

Wood putty? Like the fillers you can buy?

I've never heard of wood putty.

[lawson56]

On 5/1/2021 at 5:16 AM, new2woodwrk said:

Wood putty? Like the fillers you can buy?

I've never heard of wood putty.

Well that's what this old yankee calls it. It is filler, sometimes I can't get the exact color of the wood so I use the sawdust of the wood I just cut. Most of the time it works pretty darn well.

[new2woodwrk]

1 hour ago, lawson56 said:

Well that's what this old yankee calls it. It is filler, sometimes I can't get the exact color of the wood so I use the sawdust of the wood I just cut. Most of the time it works pretty darn well.

Do you mix the sawdust with the filler to get the color you want?

I hadn't thought of that!

[kmmcrafts]

34 minutes ago, new2woodwrk said:

Do you mix the sawdust with the filler to get the color you want?

I hadn't thought of that!

Not sure how Lawson does it but I use a clear drying wood glue and mix the sawdust into the glue.. stir it up good and keep adding more sawdust until you get the desired consistency.. I've never bought or used actual wood fillers.. When I saw I will take some of the sawdust and store it in the same test tubes I keep my saw blades in.. mark it for whatever type of wood it is..  

[new2woodwrk]

47 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Not sure how Lawson does it but I use a clear drying wood glue and mix the sawdust into the glue.. stir it up good and keep adding more sawdust until you get the desired consistency.. I've never bought or used actual wood fillers.. When I saw I will take some of the sawdust and store it in the same test tubes I keep my saw blades in.. mark it for whatever type of wood it is..  

This is what I do as well - I haven;t had very good luck using wood filler. I can never get it to fill anything LOL

Likewise with glue, I have trouble getting it to fill edge holes. Cracks, and breaks are fine, but if I cut something and nip an edge I can't get anything to fill in that edge

[Dave Monk]

52 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Not sure how Lawson does it but I use a clear drying wood glue and mix the sawdust into the glue.. stir it up good and keep adding more sawdust until you get the desired consistency.. I've never bought or used actual wood fillers.. When I saw I will take some of the sawdust and store it in the same test tubes I keep my saw blades in.. mark it for whatever type of wood it is..  

I read a while back to mix the saw dust with shellac instead of wood glue.  I tried it last week and it worked well.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Dave Monk

[lawson56]

8 hours ago, new2woodwrk said:

Do you mix the sawdust with the filler to get the color you want?

I hadn't thought of that!

I usually just mix the sawdust of the type of wood I'm cutting with glue, label it. since I'm working with 1/4 wood now I don't do it as often.

[Fedido]

what isnt on the floor and makes it way into a bag, I give it to a guy at work. He uses it to soak oil up and then burns it. so it leaves zero waste. 

[lawson56]

I don't do it nearly as often as I use to, But I would use the real fine saw dust from my saw, and the wood glue, never measured it out, just put some om wax paper. Stirred it up until I got the thinness or thickness I wanted. Spread it on with my putty knife or finger, let dry and sanded.