Subject: Re: How to use sawdust.

From: [email-masked] (James Burkholder)
Date: Sat, 08 Feb 1997 16:55:00 -0500

In article <[email-masked]>, Viliam Holuby
<[email-masked]> wrote:

> I have started to saw wood trunks. Everything is great, but there is lot =
> of wooden garbage and sawdust.

Sawdust is used to compost things.   The grass clippings and other organic
waste is mixed with sawdust, then composted.  Check some books at the
library on composting.
I don't make that much sawdust, and am reduced to actually buying it from
the local lumbar yard.   They're not dumb.

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From: Jeff Gorman <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 08 Feb 1997 10:01:23 +0000

Viliam Holuby wrote:

~  I have started to saw wood trunks. Everything is great, but there is lot =
~  of wooden garbage and sawdust.
~  Does anybody have any idea how to use it ?

I happen to have made notes on this topic, so to save everyone's time,
here is an edited summary of the uses of /sawdust/ (presumably dry
sawdust) as posted fairly recently.

Use old sawdust as a weed protector between rows then hoe it in.

Mulching rhododendrons. "Anything in the heath family, Ericaeae, is
said to love acid and would love the very acid oak sawdust. Things
that hate acid, on the other hand will keel over and die, or at least
do really poorly".  

Ideal for mixing with lawn mowings, the two together are better than
one. Grass clippings are said to be high in nitrogen, but lack carbon
which the sawdust supplies. Same with leaves, pine needles and
newspapers. (Probably will also help to keep the grass from forming a
mat and helps to let the air in).

Note from JG
Reservations were expressed about depletion of nitrogen
>from  the soil. Sawdust itself is low in nitrogen. Fungi digest the
sawdust, incorporating nitrogen from the soil into their bodies. When
the fungi die, the nitrogen is returned to the soil. A note from
"Chemistry in the Utilisation of Wood - RH Farmer - Officer-in-Charge
of the Chemistry Section of the Uk Forest Products Research Laboratory
- "nitrogen deficiency .......... becomes more apparent in the second
and third year after applying sawdust, when its decomposition becomes
more advanced". To overcome the temporary depletion, add a
high-nitrogen fertiliser to the mix.  Farmer gives the proportion of
fertiliser as about 1/2 cwt of ammonium sulphate per ton of sawdust.

"Let it age for a year in the garden", but Farmer says "it is
preferable to use material that is 3 or 4 years old".

Use it for animal bedding. Most fruit woods are safe, but Red Cedar is
a definite no for some animals. Walnut is said to be toxic to horses.
Also said to be bad for plants.

Lining the floor of a chicken coop. Make sure there are no nails and
suchlike. (RH Farmer says that "Probably the best way of using sawdust
in horticulture is to compost it with animal or poultry manure in the
proportion of three parts of sawdust to one of manure. ....... If
poultry manure is not available, use urea or Nitro-Chalk as an
activator".

For smoking meats and fish. "We make our own sausage which we smoke
with maple sawdust and sometimes with a little (American?) Cherry
thrown in".

Use it for soaking up oil spills in the garage.

For cleaning greasy hands and tools after auto work.
 
Also for removing the wet gunge formed by paint and varnish removers. 

Take half a cup and fill it half to 3/4 full of sawdust. Melt some
paraffin wax (use kitchen candles and do it in a double pan) and pour
into the cup (away from a naked flame). Good for lighting campfires
(or garden bonfires).

Another suggestion was to use old film cassette containers for
mini-firelighter moulds.

Use it to store root crops in.

Give it to a school for use in pottery. ( Eg, firing by the Raku
process in which red-hot, specially glazed pots are immersed in
sawdust).

And a new one from me. Use dried shavings/turnings for a bran
substitute for an old-fashioned lucky dip brantub for the next
fund-raising event

Caveat: Repetition does not constitute an endorsement.

Jeff
-- 
Jeff Gorman - West Yorkshire
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Lonnie Smith)
Date: 10 Feb 1997 16:39:42 GMT

How NOT to use Sawdust. If you live in the southern  U.S. do not use it as 
flower bed mulch near your house. The terminites will infest it and then 
your home!!! Cedar is O.K. though.

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] says...

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From: [email-masked] (Earl Lumpkins, Jr.)
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 1997 18:14:31 GMT

On Mon, 3 Feb 1997 14:10:06 +0100, Viliam Holuby <[email-masked]>
wrote:

>Does anybody have any idea how to use it ?
>Thank you for your ideas.
>
>http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mvtrade/index.html
>
>
>Viliam

The BEST idea I have ever seen for using sawdust is something I got
off of "The Furniture Guys".  They use the sawdust with chemical
strippers.  What an idea!  No more wasted rags.  I save all of the
sawdust from my Dewalt Bisquit joiner.  I would suggest using
something between sawdust and shavings.  Just put the stripper on then
scrub it off with hand-fulls of the sawdust.  It absorbs and then you
just throw it away after you are done.
Good Luck,
Earl

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From: Chris Dunn <"dunnc"@[no_spam]edsug.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 17:21:22 -0800

Viliam Holuby wrote:
> 
> I have started to saw wood trunks. Everything is great, but there is lot of wooden garbage and sawdust.
 
Viliam,

I use it for cleaning up whenever my little girl upchucks on the floor
(which is, fortunately, not very often). It also works great on oil
drips in the garage.

-- 
Chris Dunn
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked](Edward O'Grady)
Date: 11 Feb 1997 03:48:21 GMT

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked]
>>http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mvtrade/index.html

Big Problem Guys, 
    How can I fill a small seam or hole on a wooden box using sawdust?
Do I use Polyurethane and then sand it?  I'm having a bad time with one
customer who is patiently waiting for a box.  Can anybody post an idea
or E-mail me.  Thanks very much.
                        Ed/WallyO

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From: StanR <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 02:34:39 -0800

> or E-mail me.  Thanks very much.

The best way to use sawdust to fill a gap is to mix it with the intended
finish, shellac, tung oil, lacquer, stain-varnish, whatever. "Dusting"
exposed glue doesn't do it.

Still, it's a less-than-perfect match, but generally better than what
you can get in a can.

Stan

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From: Dan DeRight <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 11:52:10 +0000

I saw an ad for this little tool in the latest issue of WOOD magazine,
and was wondering if anyone had used one.  Its supposed metal working
capabilities seem a bit farfetched, but I suppose it's possible.  Being
made of aluminum and plastic, it's hardly a production tool, but I was
considering it more for the occasional small turning, and as a mini
drill press.

	If I chose to get simply a mini lathe, any suggestions there?

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From: "User Name" <[email-masked]>
Date: 13 Feb 1997 03:12:30 GMT

sawdust will not work to fill your gap, however sanding dust from the same
species will-- when mixed with a alaphetic resin (i.e. elmers wood glue or
titebond etc.)

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From: Paul Worth <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 11:52:40 -0500

> or E-mail me.  Thanks very much.

I've had good luck with a sawdust/glue mixture.  Fill the hole plus a
little extra.  When it's dry, sand flush.  If the project is already
stained, you can add a drop or two of stain to the mixture.  Works
for me!

--Paul Worth--
[email-masked]

P.S.  Don't use dust from your belt sander.  It has too much "grit".