Knee Deep In S...

[Simple]

...Saw dust.

Doing a sweep of the workshop floor and machinery after each session is proving to be as much of a nuisance as it is to leave it there.

After a couple of sessions in the workshop, I have accumulated that much saw dust, unuasable off cutts, wood chips and sanding dust with no cheap way of disposing of it or any idea of what to do with it.

It has been suggested that I spread the saw dust on the gardens. But then I think 'how thick do they think a bed of saw dust can be?' I'd be covering the garden beds weekly.

Does anyone have any bright ideas/suggestions on what to do with this waste or how or where to dispose of it? :mad:

Simon M

[Sir Stinkalot]

I am fairly sure that if you put it onto the garden it will suck out the nitrogen from the soil ... or something like that ... I have heard that it sould be applied with some dynamic lifter. If you want a real gardening answer try .....
Gardening Australia Forum (http://www2b.abc.net.au/gardening/)

It may also work well in the compost bin.

Stinky

[DaveInOz]

I have an insatiable pot belly stove, that takes care of the offcuts.
My plan for the saw dust is to empty the stuff into a bin of water and form a wood sludge, after a couple of days soaking, use the 'paper brick' makers to form sawdust bricks for the fire. I don't know if it will work but it is an interesting idea. (I may have to wrap the stuff in shade cloth when squeezed, and until dry ???? we'll see)

If you don't have a fire you probably have a mate that does and would appreciate the wood. :)

[Wood Borer]

Simple,

I bought a couple of hundred tiger worms and placed them in my compost bin. I put a layer of sawdust and then wet newspapers and then soil and then sawdust etc. Keep the whole thing moist and be careful not to cook the worms in the warmer months.

I have been doing this for a couple of years and the pile just keeps disappearing but at least the worms seem to like it. It is important to keep doing this regularly (every weekend in my case) otherwise you end up with a huge pile of sawdust.

This is my entire contribution to gardening since I bought SWMBO a easy to start mower about 8 years ago. Apparently it is still easy to start because the grass is regularly mowed.


- Wood Borer

[echnidna]

Tell your local senior citizens club, many of them are are gardeners and many have wood heaters

Or stoke up am incinerator weekly

Regards
Bob Thomas

[Simple]

Thanks guys.

You've got some really interesting ideas there.

DaveInOz, I'm quite interested in your idea of making the sawdust bricks for the fire. Let us know if it works.

Simon M. :)

[JohnM]

If using sawdust in bricks for an indoor fire, just ensure that none of the sawdust has noxious content when burnt.

[soundman]

Ive been putting my sawdust on the garden for years.
the trick is to rake or dig it in with some poultry pellets.
realy impoves soil structure.

[Justin]

I just empty all my sawdust & shavings into the green waste wheelie bin that gets picked up once a fortnight. Small offcuts go in the bin too, big offcuts go to my mate that has a wood burning barbeque.

Cheers,


Justin.

[Simple]

Justin

By 'green waste wheelie bin' do you mean the recycling bin that paper, plastic bottles etc are put into?

I have thought about doing this but wasn't sure whether it would upset the sorting process.

Does anyone know if this material can put in the recycling bins? I guess it can be recycled in the end.

Simon M.

[Justin]

No, it's actually a different bin meant for lawn clippings, pruned-off bits of trees etc. It's a separate service from the council, costs us $45 a year but well worth the money for garden waste plus my woodworking pursuits..........


Justin.

[Johnno]

Simon, here in Canberra you can use one of the 'bag' services such as 'Tom's TrashPaks'. Costs around $22 to get a woolbale-sized bag emptied every month (only if it's more than half full). They have no objections to sawdust or shavings, but don't like offcuts.
Composting it yourself is the cheapest option...

[Baz]

Simon, I put mine in bags and give it away as mulch, otherwise I would take it to the green recycle centre (Canberra Sand & Gravel), doesn't cost anything to go there.
Cheers
Barry

[soundman]

if it hapens to be camphor laurel shavings.

collect it carefully, measure it into small plastic bags & sell it as a moth repelent or pot pouri.


silly yes.

seen it done yess


small zip lok bagie of the stuff for $2.50?????

[journeyman Mick]

Hmmmm, money's tight at the moment and I've got a camphor laurel tree in the backyard, maybe I'll fell it, slab it, feed it thru a chipper and bag it. Kuranda markets, here I come!:D

Mick

[rob_tassie]

Same thing will work with pine sawdust, just squirt in a little of an essential oil and, hey presto, scented (or is that centred :D )pot pourri....

[DaveInOz]

Sawdust bricks are a failure :(

The sawdust didn't bond so the brick disintergrated into small chunks.
The chunks I did try to burn smoldered rather than burnt, so all up the experiment was a failure.

It is possible because I've seen them for sale (small wrist sized 'logs'), but I don't have time, energy or desire enough to keep experimenting.

If anyone is interested in trying for yourself I suggest further experiments could look at a paper / sawdust mix, and or smaller bricks.

[gatiep]

I've seen those bricks done with a very weak pva glue in water solution, then compressed

Cya
Joe