What to do with sawdust & chippings

[Anonymous]

Hi Everybody,

I am now producing sawdust at a furious rate :lol: :shock:

My power tool collection now includes a Nu-Tools thicknesser & a Rexon Jointer, so I have recently bought a load of 1" rough sawn ash with the intention of getting 3/4" boards from it. So far so good and my PAR stock is virtually zero and today I started using the thicknesser & jointer in anger.

My first thought is "I need a dust extractor!" - I couldn't beleive the amount I was producing & it went all over the shed :roll: good job I have a 7 year old helper who loves to tidy the shed up So £100 later I expect my extractor to arrive from Axminster in the next couple of days.

Secondly - I notice that my jointer and thicknesser have different size holes for plugging extraction unit in to. What's the game here? Can I easily get adaptors for my 4" extractor?

Thirdly - what do people do with all their wood waste? It seems a shame to simply dump it. Can it be remanufactured into kindling or something or do you know of organizations that want the stuff

thanks in advance
Chris

 

[DaveL]

Chris,
I am still waiting for the Axminster Planer Thicknesser to arrive, but I have a use for the planing waste already waiting, I heat the workshop with a wood burning stove

The shavings can be used for pet bedding both large (horse) and small (mice), but you need to keep the different types of wood separate as some are toxic. I think walnut can be a problem, a quick search on the net should confirm this.

You could also use the shavings as a mulch on the garden I think some woods are good as snail protection due to the toxic effects. Small amounts can be added to the compost heap, remember the toxic check first.

As for adapters for your dust collector, have a look at Charnwood
http://www.charnwood.net
they have four reducing connectors to take 4" (100mm) down to 75(68 ), 63(58 ), 58(50), 50(45), O/D(I/D) size all at £5 each.
They also have some transparent flexible hose, I am going order some, I like the idea of seeing if the thing is blocked :evil: before the tool chokes on the shavings

HTH
DaveL

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Dave,

I'd thought of bedding etc, but the other ideas are useful. Unfortunately I have a wooden shed for a workshop, so heating with a stove is out of the question, but I do have a real fireplace in the house & if I could bind the sawdust together in some way, perhaps I could make kindling sticks etc. Problem is, how to do that safely, cheaply and without lots of chemicals that wouldn't smell nice when burned.

Chris

PS mucho thanks for the adaptor info

 

[Keystone]

One way is to mix the chips/dust with wax. Just enough wax to hold it together. These make great fore starters. Make them as small/large as you want. If you can figure out a way to press them under pressure, you can make logs!

 

[Anonymous]

One way is to mix the chips/dust with wax. Just enough wax to hold it together. These make great fore starters. Make them as small/large as you want. If you can figure out a way to press them under pressure, you can make logs!

thanks for the tip, I'll try that.