Made You Look: Sawdust Stove
An effective solution for disposing of all the waste from your dust collection.
May 22, 2024
Any woodworker knows that finding a way to dispose of sawdust quickly becomes a problem. I worked at a sawmill, where we produced loads of dust and tried to find good solutions for ways to dispose of it. Some became bedding for chicken coops, and we even sent bags of pecan sawdust to a local seamstress who used it to naturally dye clothes. Still, we had a wealth of sawdust and no real solution for what to do with it. Then, after a little research, we found this solution that – slowly- but surely burns away sawdust instead of accumulating in piles or filling trash bins. This became a great solution for our excess waste, and when monitored all day, allowed us to dispose of it effectively. I wouldn’t take this video as a thorough how-to—but more of an idea starter. Of course, when it comes to playing with fire, proceed with caution.
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Comments
I can't get down with this one any more than burning forests to make farmland. If you were heating your shop like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pv8JxrQMAw or generating power or even cooking dinner, maybe. To pump that much gas and particulate out in such a dangerous manner is bad all around... and the leftover solids still need to be handled responsibly, which not many think about.
A sawyer I used to visit in the Adirondacks invested in a pellet making machine. He heated his place through the bad winters and bagged & sold the surplus to local home centers.
I just chuck it out back in the field. In a few years, all gone. No HOA here.
I contribute my sawdust to a local compost pile. Find a community garden and they probably have one. Sawdust is an excellent companion to food waste. Burning wood is not something we should continue to do unless absolutely necessary (like controlled burns to prevent forest fires) in this time of rising CO2 and temperatures.
I second this approach. We compost at home in France and sawdust (in particular shavings from the lathe) balances compost and also mulch mixes, which are otherwise too wet/green.
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