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101 Things to do with a pile of sawdust/shavings

posted 1 month ago

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My neighbor has 2 mills for sawing trees into lumber, and one of those chain-saw mill setups which is much slower to use, but is more portable.

I'm sure there are plenty of different styles, but that's for another thread. This thread is all about what to do with "the stuff left over".

Some mills produce more sawdust that contains more shavings and slightly coarser material. Some mills produce finer material with no shavings, and less of it. For this thread, if the use you're suggesting needs a specific type, speak up, but otherwise, I trust permies to figure it out for themselves.

I will get the list started with uses I have used it for, and everyone can add their own thoughts/uses also!

1. The shavings are great for chicken/duck nest boxes. The fine stuff is dustier, but any port in a storm.
2. Fine sawdust is important on my farm when I have to compost dead animals. A good bed of sawdust under the animal helps hold the juices for the bugs to process so contaminants don't get down into the water table.
3. Sawdust layered with Doug Fir Cones in a warming tray makes great biochar in our woodstove. (plain sawdust doesn't cook evenly)
4. Sawdust dumped in wet areas of our paths is a short term fix for a muddy patch.
5. Hardwood shavings can be utilized for a number of mushroom species to feed mycelium.
6. Fine sawdust can be utilized as a deterrent for plant growth. It can be placed to block sunlight and stop germination.
7. Sawdust can be used for certain pottery techniques such as sawdust firing or raku styled pottery.
8. Sawdust can be used in place of bran for bokashi. Just inoculate with the 'broth' and sprinkle on top of the waste in the bucket.
9. Composting toilet cover material! (Human or pets like dogs.)
10. Sawdust is great to have around the workshop to sop up spilled liquids.
11. Sawdust on a path between raised beds eventually turns into soil that can get added to the beds.
12. Making fire-starters by mixing it with wax in a mold.
13. Homemade presto log equivalents
14.

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Timothy Norton

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posted 1 month ago

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Hardwood shavings can be utilized for a number of mushroom species to feed mycelium.

Fine sawdust can be utilized as a deterrent for plant growth. It can be placed to block sunlight and stop germination.

Sawdust can be used for certain pottery techniques such as sawdust firing or raku styled pottery.

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Tereza Okava

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as with the mycelium--- sawdust can be used in place of bran for bokashi. Just inoculate with the 'broth' and sprinkle on top of the waste in the bucket and you're off to the races.

Rebecca Norman

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Composting toilet cover material!

In my new house in 2018 I started by using up all the chips and shavings and sawdust that I had asked the builder to save for me. But when I emptied the composting toilet a couple years later, there was a lot of undecomposed chips and shavings. They'd turned orange or brown, but were not really ready to use in the soil.

Then I started getting free material from some woodshops in my area. It was a mix of sawdust and small shavings, and I took the trouble to remove larger pieces of woods before use. I watered the sacks of this material for a couple of months before use to make them a little better for the purpose (as per Joe Jenkins's advice in the Humanure Handbook). This also came out a couple years later as not being fully broken down, though much better than the first batch.

Then I started paying for fine sawdust from the woodshops, and getting free coffee grounds from the cafes in town, and mixing them together. I mix coffee grounds and sawdust in big sacks, removing unwanted bits as I layer the material. Then I water the whole mix. It heats up dramatically within a week, and stays hot inside for a month or so. The cafes and woodshops are most active in summer, so I made several sacks, enough for the year. This cover material finally yielded good compost after two years in the toilet system, basically finished and only needing to be turned and left for a few more months.

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Phil Stevens

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Sawdust can be mixed with fireclay to make an inexpensive insulating refractory material. The wood particles burn out or turn to charcoal when heated, leaving voids that slow the conduction of heat.

In a similar way, sawdust incorporated into earth building mixes like cob and plaster provides bulk without as much weight, and adds a small amount of insulating quality. If it's shavings or stranded in form, the fibres help to bind the material, mitigating shrinkage and cracking.

Sawdust is a great thing to have around the workshop to sop up spilled liquids.

Michelle Heath

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My parents have pretty much remodeled their whole house and have added tongue and groove hardwood to the walls. My Dad purchased rough lumber and planed them all, which resulted in lots of fine shavings and sawdust. I had been hauling buckets of fresh wood chips to them to use in their small garden but Mom decided dump the shavings in the paths instead. Not only does it provide an excellent surface to walk on, but after the shavings thoroughly break down they can be scooped up and added to the raised beds.

Here we have been working on removing the remaining parts of a large tree that we paid to have cut down and removed a few years ago. So far I've collected a few feed sacks full of sawdust that I intend to use for a basic compost ing toilet.

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Nancy Reading

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On the subject of composting toilet material - that goes for doggy poo loos too! I'm picking up to save my labrador the trouble (eew!) so am layering the poo wrapped in newspaper with a layer of sawdust Hopefully will end up with compost for the orchard in time

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Nina Surya

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I use sawdust as litter material in the horse stable.
When cleaning the stable, the stuff goes on a hugel-in-making at the moment (earlier on the compost heap).
And we use sawdust for the compost toilet.
Woodchips for the paths.

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Kelly Craig

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posted 1 month ago

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Don't forget the simple stuff, like fire starters made from sawdust dumped in egg cartons and wax poured over it.

When I empty my 55 gallon drums, it goes to a friend, whose father turns it into Presto Log equivalents.

Sarah Joubert

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Rebecca Norman wrote: Composting toilet cover material!

We have a waterless loo as opposed to a true composting toilet. It's a fine stacking functions operation.
If I could get free sawdust without potentially harmful treatment residues I would definitely use it.
Currently I have to buy wood stove pellets (pine) and rehydrate them for use in the loo. I put an unhydrated layer on the bottom to absorb pee so that it doesn't become a squishy sloppy mess to empty each week. I have a lidded, meshed, cardboard lined, steel framed bin outside to dump the bucket. It takes about 6 months to fill. In the warm months I harvest soldier fly larvae for the chickens daily. The soldier flies also decrease the level in the bin drastically- and they outcompete any houseflies which manage to get through the mesh to lay eggs. There's mostly just sawdust and pee left by the time the soldier flies are done. After sitting 2 years I've now used it to cover a mound of rocks and rubble, Last December I emptied all my old seeds over the mound. So far I have cosmos, beets, chard, tomatoes, squash, peas as well as some "weed" species. I haven't been able to grow radish here in 4 years, the radish coming up are a delight- with total neglect, I don't water the mound.
I also dig a hole between my fruit trees and layer my dog poop with sawdust in the holes. When full, I cover with 20cm of dirt. This way I keep the fly population down, improve my clay pan one hole at a time and the fruit trees eventually benefit too.
So thumbs up for sawdust!

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Roger Engstrom

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posted 1 month ago

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Sawdust in walkway is great and if added to frequently continues to preform. Sawdust as mulch may cake up and prevent water and air infiltration which is great to prevent weeds and evaporation a think application as a mulch may fit a given situation

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Tereza Okava

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Roger Engstrom wrote:Sawdust in walkway is great and if added to frequently continues to preform. Sawdust as mulch may cake up and prevent water and air infiltration which is great to prevent weeds and evaporation a think application as a mulch may fit a given situation

Definitely! and it also gives it a chance to rot down, usually if I have a lot I'll heap it up on the garden paths, and then a few months later shovel it out thinly into the beds as a mulch.

Jill Dyer

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posted 4 weeks ago

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I'd be giving it a try as a natural dye source . . .

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Tommy Bolin

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posted 4 weeks ago

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The old timers used it for insulation in and around the ice house. Insulation for ice during transport.
Shipping crates were packed with saw shavings for impact and insulation. We tried storing potatoes in loose, dry saw shavings, still froze in unheated house at -20F outside, but the potential is there.
The original dynamite was nitroglycerin soaked into sawdust for stability, I believe.
We had a forest fire up here in 2018. The amount of trucks and equipment using my road for those weeks pounded the mineral sand/silt to airborne powder. I started adding saw shavings/chipper shreds to my road mix, as i repair. Helps anchor a bit of that dust.
Using spruce/pine chipper and saw shreds to acidify poplar soil.
Depending on your confidence/skill, a chainsaw can be used to rip those 2+ft., or very knotty log rounds in lieu of splitting with wedges. Kids who play outdoors find imaginative uses for those long, fine shreds a sharp chain makes.

Jennie Little

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posted 4 weeks ago

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We use it for cat litter. During the winter we "save" the soiled litter in 2 trash barrels. In. spring (about now!) I rake back the leaves under the trees, rake out the litter, add low mow/part shade grass seed mix and rake the leaves back. Not trying to make a lawn, trying to anchor the top soil. Of course I don't do this near our veggie garden, but it seems to work.

Only problem is that the cats won't "dig" into the shavings, so the litter has to be layered on as they use it. Also, it's a mess when they track it out of the box. A water heater/washing machine tray helps with that.

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