Folks,
We burn wood at my house. My wife is somewhat pyrotechnically challenged and has problems getting the fire going. I thought up a neat way to start a fire.
Get a paper shopping bag and fill it 1/4 to 1/3 full of sawdust/ shavings, cut offs etc. Then wrap the rest of the bag around the sawdust. Put it in the woodstove with three or four pieces of wadded up newspaper on top. Then put your split wood on top. Kindling is not required. Light the newspaper and you are burning wood.
Regards
Frank
Burn wood … tell a Sheik to go to heck
Replies
Frank, I heat my shop with the waste from the things I make. Nothing burns better than FAS Cherry and Walnut. Felder and several other companies have a unit that compacts the wood dust to cubes that are better able to be burned. Loose dust seems to smolder rather than really burn. The bag concept sound like a good idea. Bill Lindau
Hi Frank,
I do the same thing except, I put the wadded up paper under the sawdust bag. In my shop I dribble used motor oil on top of the kindlin prior to BIC-ing it. I'd get shot for messing around with oil in the house.
Enjoy the wood heat,
Dale
Hello guys.
In the Scouts (many years ago.) we melted wax and added sawdust until we had a firm block , from that point, we cut it into smaller blocks. the wax and sawdust burned great,we used it as a fire starter.
Perhaps something like that could be done in your case?
C.A.G.
What you did in the scouts is preety much what the "pressed log" firewood people do. Too bad you guys didn't get the patent...Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
Wax or canning parafin - used to melt parafin and coat tip half of wooden matchs to make them waterproof.1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go 4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
Tonight I used brown paper lunch bags and filled them 1/2 way with sawdust. I rolled the bags around the dust and put a rubber band around it. A few pieces of balled up paper went under it and then I put big chunks of oak over it- no kindling. It was a one match fire.
I don't think there is enough dust there to make any sort of flue explosion.
Frank
Actually you'd be surprised at how little dust it takes. My chemistry teacher exploded 1 teaspoon of flour in a gallon paint can. It's also a factor of how much space you have and the state of the dust. I wouldn't go using the bellows until I was sure the dust had been consumed.Datachanel
Doing things the hard way
A lotta of air and wood dust is not a good thing. Once and will be the only time I did such a thing: I threw a dust pan of saw dust, floor sweepings, into a fire, acted like tossing gasoline into a fire, I will never do that again.
I have never had problems or suspected a problem with sawdust in a bag or piles of sawdust. I would agree bellows or any other form of heavy air blast might not be a good idea with sawdust in a wood heater.
Thanks for that foresight,
Dale
My dad takes colored tissue paper from gift boxes and places a base ball sized pile of saw dust in the middle then ties it with a matching ribbon. He the dips them in melted wax and gives them out at Christmas. A basket full of the different colored balls makes a nice decoration on the hearth and are handy for starting a fire. Stack your wood in the fireplace and set one ball on to and light. Works great and are cheap gifts!
I would not use sawdust in my wood burning stove because of the unburned saw dust gettin into the chimney and exploding if there were enough of it. For example saw dust can explode in a metal exhaust system so I would assume it could easily do the same in a woodburning stove.
I complst my sawdust. By adding a good soulrce of nitrogen like urine, manure tea, or sythetic source it composts in a year and can be added to the garden.
I would like to hear from someone very knowlegible in fire safety comment on the idea of burning sawdust in a woodburning stove.
w
Sounds like a good idea to me.
I've been known to add a little automatic transmission fluid to the saw dust. Makes an interesting slurry, but burns like a champ. Good for getting wet firewood going. Although, it could be a real mess to clean if your fire doesn't burn hot enough.
Biscardi
Next time the you buy a dozen eggs, make sure you buy them in a paper carton as opposed to those styrofoam ones. When the carton is empty, pack each of the cells with shavings and sawdust then pour some melted canning wax or parrafin over them. When they've congealed and cooled, tear the cells apart into individual pieces, each one of which will make a nice fire starter. You do require a little kindling though. I don't know if one of these would start a log fire from scratch.
Frank: I put most of my sawdust in the garden. Only exception is if there is a lot of plywood dust in the mix. This is not a very large amount as what goes in the shop vac bag goes in the garbage. Duke
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Hi.
I burn wood in my shop for heat. To start the fire i use shavings from the planer or shaper.under the logs. then sprinkie about 2 or 3 tablespoons or deisel fuel on the shavings . It is most always a one match fire. I keep the fine stuff away from the fire and use in the garden.
Have a nice day Lee
Shavings - into the woodstove. Sawdust - into the ground.
Sawdust (not including that from plywood, mdf, particle board, etc.) makes great 'carbon' for the compost pile. I mix mine with the cuttings from 3 acres of grass, nasties from the chicken coop, veggie waste from the kitchen and whatever gets raked up from the fruit trees. As an added bonus - and due almost entirely to the sawdust - this blend of compost holds moisture better than most.
Regards.
Just make sure you're not composting walnut for the garden. You won't grow much produce that way.
Adam
Yep...Walnut BAD! It contains a compount called Juglans that is an effective growth supressor to many plants.
Walnut sawdust is also effective if your yard is infected with horses, kills them too.
Interesting Factoid: Sunflowers create a monoculture by inhibiting growth in the soil onto which they drop their seeds. Look under your bird feeder... kind of barren, no?I didn't know that about Walnut (referring to growth inhibiters). One more reason not to like the stuff...
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