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All those shavings...

D

Dan Stromberg

Joined
May 25, 2010
Messages
124
Likes
81
Location
Prince Frederick, MD
Okay, here's a question for you all. What do you do with all the shavings and sawdust that you generate? I've heard of some who use it as mulch around the yard. I've never tried that, but it seems to me that most of the shavings would be too fine to be much good. Seems like the wind would just blow a lot of it around, wouldn't it?

In case it's relevant, my dust collector sucks everything into a big 55-gallon drum. Since it's coming from all the tools, I have as much fine dust in the drum as I do the heavier shavings.

I've only ever just tossed the bag in the trash, but it would be nice to do something more useful with it.
 
It depends on the species of wood, how much mulch you can use, and what part of the country you live in. Here in the southern part of the country, subterranean termites will thrive on many species of wood so I am very careful about what I put on the flower beds and garden. Also fresh decomposing shavings can tie up essential nitrogen nutrients in the soil. I used to have a large garden where I could compost wood shavings, but now I usually just bag it and send it to the landfill where it helps add some organic matter to the soil.
 
Walnut shavings can be toxic to both plants and animals. If there is any walnut in the shavings/dust, discard the entire lot. It cannot be used for either mulch or animal bedding.
 
I save it and will use it to get a brush pile going as soon as it cools off some more. I have heard of people mixing sawdust and paraffin together and pouring it in a muffin tin to make fire starters.
 
Chicken ranchers are a reliable resource, but few stick with it very long, so I'm constantly looking for new recipients. Some horse and cattle folks like it and are more reliable but far fewer in number. My shavings are all shavings and no sawdust and it seems to work well for them. A listing in the Free section of Craigslist brings half a dozen responses within a few hours.
 
Misconception on Walnut . It is only toxic to seedlings and a few other plants not toxic to everything and yes I have used it on plants. BUT is very bad for horses. I put all my shavings and even fins in the yard beds but not against the house for termite concerns. The fines do get har but you can just cultivate them to loosen. As to drift it may be a problem for long curls off your planes but otherwise not an issue.
 
I like the idea of mixing it with paraffin (although it seems a bit like real work!) Without the wax, I can just imagine the "poof" as all the dust catches a spark!

Interesting... it seems like this is an "issue" everyone runs into sooner or later.
 
Dan, had the experience of throwing a small amount, thank goodness, on a fire. Like tossing gasoline on it.
FWIW, the microdust in feed mills can cause the explosions that we see on the news at times. A college buddy worked in a feed mill one summer. That's where he learned to chew tobacco as cigarettes were nixed.
 
Depending on the wood shaving species you could use them in the garden for a mushroom bed to grow certain types of mushrooms. Some hobby and commercial growers of mushrooms will also use sawdust and shavings in containers after they have been sterilized to grow certain types of mushrooms. Regionally there are many companies that now make soft wood and hard wood pellets for heating, smoking meats, bedding for animals, and growing mushrooms. With a hydraulic press and a simple mold you can press manufactured logs to burn in a stove or fire pit. Wood shavings can be mixed with glues or epoxies and pressed into simple or complex molds to form a variety of items limited to what your imagination or needs are.
 
I have a neighbor that takes a lot of my shavings for his chicken coup, he always brings me eggs when he picks up the shavings. And a lady north of me is my backup, she makes the drive for shavings and uses them around her yard and in her garden. I'm allergic to walnut so there is never any in there.
 
To make fire starters use cardboard egg cartons. Fill the cartons with shavings, pack them in, then pour melted wax over it. My wife is a candle nut so I keep her scraps and castoffs. Once the wax cools and hardens I cut them into individual "cubes" with my band saw. They work very well, but they will not put much of a dent into your shavings pile. I use an electric hot plate for melting the wax, no open flames.
 
I give all my shavings away also. I live in a rural neighborhood and there are several chicken farmers in the area and they come get mine and anybody else that won't them. Word gets around so my pile of shavings don't get very high.....:D
 
Even hardwood shavings deplete nitrogen in the soil as it disintegrates. Our yard is the poster child for poor soil conservation practices of the 1930's. Hardly any top soil and a lot of clay and rocks. I spread the saw dust and shavings just before mowing the grass. That way the shavings and grass clippings get mixed and strewn around on the ground. Now I have organic matter on the soil that was not there before. I spread spring and fall grass food around and so far, the shavings have not harmed the grass. In fact, the grass is a bit greener where the shavings have been spread. Walnut shavings get dumped in a gully in the bottom of the sheep pasture. they settle in between the rocks and help as erosion control. I just throw more rocks on top and eventually the gully will be filled.
 
Most of my shavings go over the back fence. I don't like brush growing up behind my split-rail fence and a load of shavings sure keeps that undergrowth down. One of the best shop investments I've made is a big thick painters' drop cloth for the floor. When shavings get ankle deep, I drag the thing outside and empty it over the fence.
 
Dan Stromberg said:
Okay, here's a question for you all. What do you do with all the shavings and sawdust that you generate? I've heard of some who use it as mulch around the yard. I've never tried that, but it seems to me that most of the shavings would be too fine to be much good. Seems like the wind would just blow a lot of it around, wouldn't it?

In case it's relevant, my dust collector sucks everything into a big 55-gallon drum. Since it's coming from all the tools, I have as much fine dust in the drum as I do the heavier shavings.

I've only ever just tossed the bag in the trash, but it would be nice to do something more useful with it.
Click to expand...

Amazon sells a paper log maker: https://www.amazon.com/Northern-Too...id=1540414517&sr=8-4&keywords=paper+log+maker
I use about a 50-50 mix of crumpled newspaper and shavings, mixed in 5 gallon bucket with lots of water, with a paint mixer in a drill. Makes great fire logs
 
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Gary, FWIW, newspapers are going the way of the dinosaur. The paper mill at Calhoun, TN just spent a fortune to change from newsprint to another paper product. They are making toilet paper. Never go out of date!
 
Bill, use the centerfold from Playboy. The wife will wonder why you keep checking the birdcage. :rolleyes:
 
I recently saw a pelletizer for sale on Craigs list. Needed a monster motor to run the thing and as I recall it would pelletize hay or alfalfa into feed pellets, wood into fuel pellets or even into pelleted stall litter for horses. Only $8K as i recall At one time John Deere sold a hay pelletizer that would compress hay into feed cubes. It was pulled along the field and powered by the tractor PTO. I read that the thing required a minimum 120HP tractor to operate the thing. I recently saw a homade fuel cuber gizmo a guy made. The shavings were mixed with a weak white glue water solution and then packed into a 4 inch round pipe and put under a hydraulic press and squeezed for 20 minutes. The compressed block of sawdust and shavings needed to dry another 2 weeks before it could be burned as fuel. You could work all summer just to keep the house from freezing for 2 hours in January. .
 
You know, if one could drive a pelletizer from the lathe motor, and make a pellet-powered motor to turn the lathe, you might create the first perpetual motion machine ever.
 
Several decades ago I hosted a political debate on my estate and ended up with a large amount of bovine compost left behind, so I was forced to start a mushroom farm to utilize the organic materials to grow mushrooms on. Each year I host the same event which provides a endless supply of compost to grow the large amount of fungi grown each year. :-)

You could build a small pellet extruder that could be powered by a wood lathe, they usually utilize a screw design that forces the raw product down a screw that ends up being extruded through a small opening at the opposite end of the extruder. The headstock spindle would drive the screw while the tailstock would hold the opposite end of the extruder housing stationary. You could also modify the same machine to mill grain or grind coffee.
 
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