sawdust waste not want not

[daddo]

Met a woodworking man who said he insulated the walls in his big shed he built with sawdust/shavings. He also used old newspapers he collected. 

 I had mixed feelings about that.  

[Stwood_]

Met a woodworking man who said he insulated the walls in his big shed he built with sawdust/shavings. He also used old newspapers he collected. 

 I had mixed feelings about that.  

Yep. Termites probably like shavings too.


I remember back when they used to insulate the well house with shavings.
They would keep their taters in there.

[EdL]

1/2 of the attic in my grandparents house WAS insulated with sawdust.....if there was ever a fire, can't imagine how fast that would go off.

My sawdust? I just dump it in the woods to rot.

Ed

[tomsteve]

1/2 of the attic in my grandparents house WAS insulated with sawdust.....if there was ever a fire, can't imagine how fast that would go off.



Ed

prolly look a little like this

[EdL]

Pretty much!




Ed

[Robin Dobbie]

I remember back when they used to insulate the well house with shavings.
They would keep their taters in there.

Suddenly I'm hungry for mesquite-smoked baked potatoes.

A question for those who use sawdust as wood filler: how is it not too gritty? Do you first put it in a blender or something? Maybe sift it from very large quantities? Only way I've been able to use wood dust as filler is with dust sourced from the belt sander bag. The belt sander, even with rough grits, produces orders of magnitude finer particles than any saw I have. I do use either a 40-tooth 7-1/4" diameter 1/16th" wide blade or 10" diameter 1/10th" wide blade for most of my cuts, but my thinking is even a 120-tooth blade at 10,000 rpm might still not produce fine enough dust.

[Stwood_]

Sanding dust is probably the word we should be using instead of saw dust.

I've actually had to fire up the belt sander and made dust as a filler when I had no other filler readily available that matched in color for the wood I was using

[Robert Adams]

Suddenly I'm hungry for mesquite-smoked baked potatoes.

A question for those who use sawdust as wood filler: how is it not too gritty? Do you first put it in a blender or something? Maybe sift it from very large quantities? Only way I've been able to use wood dust as filler is with dust sourced from the belt sander bag. The belt sander, even with rough grits, produces orders of magnitude finer particles than any saw I have. I do use either a 40-tooth 7-1/4" diameter 1/16th" wide blade or 10" diameter 1/10th" wide blade for most of my cuts, but my thinking is even a 120-tooth blade at 10,000 rpm might still not produce fine enough dust.

         For filler you want the dust from the bag on on a random orbit sander. 


            As for the mesquite smoked potatoes. I can't stand baked potatoes but I do have this on the grill right now started at 0 dark 30 with many more hours to go. Sitting at 165* right now. I use oak logs with a mix of mesquite cherry and other scraps as well as cherry planer and jointer shavings which help give a nice thick smoke.   And yes I have been snacking on it as it cooks. 
       That trash can was about 3/4 full this morning. I have a few bags more cherry in the shop. This is the best use for chips, shavings and dust. You can use walnut but it's has issues and from what I hear adds adds an odd flavor. I would use allot more mesquite but it's pricey unless I go west oor south and cut down my own trees. Yes is is more than an invasive bush and large trees are often poached from people's property. My friend lost two big ones that he was going to let me have. 
    Gotta go refill the firebox...



  

[dg152]

I have a neighbor whose chickens love my sawdust. And, they aren't picky about the kind of wood I've been working with either!

[MichaelMouse]

I have a neighbor whose chickens love my sawdust.  And, they aren't picky about the kind of wood I've been working with either!

Chicken people wanted shavings, not dust, from me.  Claimed the dumb birds would eat the dust, thinking it was mash.  They got mixed planer and lathe, and could sift/winnow on their own.