[TomCT2]

there are any number of pelletizing machines on the market. they are not cheap.
with wood pellets at +/- $200 per ton, you'll have a very difficult time making the economics work.

 

[Tom-G]

Windo45 - Did you realize you were responding to a discussion thread from 2010?

 

[woodnthings]

Windo45 - Did you realize you were responding to a discussion thread from 2010?

Yes, but 10 years can make a big difference in things because of newer technology. Maybe not in this case, but there's definitely an interest in the topic since it's the single "waste" product woodworkers generate that would be nice to recycle or repurpose. Let's see what shows up here..... ?

 

[redeared]

I have a press back from the energy crisis back in the 70's it makes 4 bricks at a time. I mix sanddust and paper from our shredder in buckets with water, mix it up well with a drill and paint mixer, let them soak overnight then make the bricks. Best time to make them is in the summer so you let the sun dry them out. My kids come over and take them for their file places.
We have a pellet stove and I looked into the pellet mills and realized since we use 50# a day it isn't practical for us, I would be making pellets everyday and just don't have that much sawdust. A lot of people using the mill use plant matter, soy, alfalfa etc...

 

[Tom-G]

Yes, but 10 years can make a big difference in things because of newer technology. Maybe not in this case, but there's definitely an interest in the topic since it's the single "waste" product woodworkers generate that would be nice to recycle or repurpose. Let's see what shows up here..... ?

Totally agree. I only pointed it out as Wingdo45’s post ended with “good luck regardless” which I expected was intended for the OP.

 

[kwoodhands]

I remember a wood stove that looked like a hot water heater. There was a 3" or so steel pipe in the center standing vertically. The pipe was a flue of sorts. Sawdust was packed down tightly around the pipe and between the vessel. The pipe was removed after the sawdust was packed down tight.
The fire was lit from the bottom if I recall correctly.
. I do recall the stove was hot and the heat lasted 6 hours or so til it needed more sawdust. This was in a window and door shop. I was about 10 years old so I do not recall more.

 

[kiwi_outdoors]

those commercial fire starter logs stink, we smell them in the winter, when we are out in our hot tub. under the stars

 

[redeared]

I remember a wood stove that looked like a hot water heater. There was a 3" or so steel pipe in the center standing vertically. The pipe was a flue of sorts. Sawdust was packed down tightly around the pipe and between the vessel. The pipe was removed after the sawdust was packed down tight.
The fire was lit from the bottom if I recall correctly.
. I do recall the stove was hot and the heat lasted 6 hours or so til it needed more sawdust. This was in a window and door shop. I was about 10 years old so I do not recall more.

There is a Youtube video of that stove

 

[Wingdo45]

I am not an agriculture expert, so I had to look up terms:
Lime -> I assume that he/she is talking about the mineral, not the fruit.
DE = diatomacious earth
Sevin = A commercial insecticide. It comes in powder and spray forms. You can find it at the big box stores, among other places.

Sorry... sometimes I forget how old I am and assume folks know the basics on farm living... 75 years of down on the farm can really screw with your head!

The bottom line here is, sawdust is worth its weight and the inconvenience of storing it far outweighs its merits as an important tool in the woodshop.

 

[TimPa]

... or the brush burner and heat up the flue real well then the smoke goes up rather than out. It's an all new SS chimney, outside air for combustion with 2 two 90's, one inside the other a "tee" cleanout outside and with about 30 feet of height so it's hard to warm up for a draw. :yes:bill

crack open the nearest door or window for a few minutes...
sorry i see someone else also mentioned that.

there was a fellow in Sweden maybe who packed sawdust into a 55 gal drum, then lit the center, and it heated his house/shop for a week. just kinda smouldered, but gave off heat.

 

[redeared]

crack open the nearest door or window for a few minutes...
sorry i see someone else also mentioned that.

there was a fellow in Sweden maybe who packed sawdust into a 55 gal drum, then lit the center, and it heated his house/shop for a week. just kinda smouldered, but gave off heat.

Smouldering for a week I would hate to look at his flue pipe

 

[TimPa]

i couldn't find the original video from overseas. but apparently i may have been off on the "one week" burn. intersting none the less
do a search for saw dust stove...

 

[woodnthings]

A source for saw dust would be where someone owns a portable saw mill, friends or neighbors? Unless the property owners want it for their own use it is essentially a "waste by-product" of the milling operation. Just BEWARE of Walnut dust, it's not safe for bedding for horses or for compost in gardens as far as I remember. I'm not certain why either?
I don't know what the box stores or lumber yards do with theirs, except I see piles of it around the radial arm and table saws at my local yard. Also beware of wet or damp sawdust, as I understand it can self ignite when it's allowed to compost in a large pile, not sure of that either, but I know compost can get fairly warm.

StackPath

 

[FrankC]

I have heard about sawdust combusting, and often wondered about it because on the Saskatchewan prairies we had ice houses, blocks cut from the local lake, layers would be put down then covered with sawdust. Our ice house was made of logs, we would have ice through the summer. I guess the ice kept it cool enough to not combust but the ice would be gone long before freezing.

 

[redeared]

Only the largest piles, like those in commercial composting operations, are really in any danger if they are mismanaged. Key to preventing any issues is proper maintenance of your organic matter to prevent hot compost bins, aerating the pile and watering it on occasion to keep it moist.. I have been composting saw dust for over 40 years and never had an issue. Saw dust can combust at 250F under the right conditions but it would have a be a very large pile to do so.

 

[allpurpose]

I like having a small bucket of sawdust to rub on and into glue squeezout to make cleaning glueups a lot easier. By the way...2 things happened today.. I sold my table saw so now I have the space for the new one and I bought a used dust collector...hose and the fancy schmancy plugin part that'll start both the saw and the DC at the same time..