“Saw Dust.” We all know the the smell, but are there practical uses for this dust? Over the years we have heard a lot of different ideas with regards to saw dust, some we like and some are neat. But we would probably never use it on the driveway during winter to get more tracktion. Great idea, but it doesn’t really work. Another use we came across was putting it on top soil to help trap moisture. Good idea, but my wife would look at me like a weirdo if I walked up to her with a pile of saw dust and said sprinkly this fine dust all over your plants. Lets get down to some serious uses for saw dust, because there are some good ones out there, well at least three I know of.
- If you are creating a nice piece of work such as furniture, I always have a container next to me to save the saw dust. After I glue two pieces together, sometimes there is a gap, or you can see glue no matter how much you try to wipe it away. Take a little saw dust from your project and spread it around the two joints you just glued together. Once you have the saw dust on top, just press down with your fingers to work it in. This way it will stick to any glue left over or cover up any small gaps. This is a great trick to cover up small flaws. Also if you decide to stain your work, everything will be uniform because you used the same saw dust from your project. If you don’t use this method, sometimes when you stain, the glue will stand out more. This is one way you can cover up the glue.
- I usually throw most of the saw dust from my work away, but a good idea is to store some in a 5 gallon bucket. When you have a spill, spread the saw dust over the spill and it will soak it up.
- Another idea is to use the saw dust as a fire starter. I have never done this because to me it is easier to just buy a fire starter. But you can melt some wax and mix in the saw dust. Then spread the mixture into an empty egg carton and you have stored fire starter.
The above ideas are some of the most practical uses for saw dust. Yes, you can use walnut saw dust to sprinkle between the cracks in your walk way to prevent weeds, but we feel buying a weed killer is a lot easier.
We would love to hear more ideas!!
Great uses for the saw dust. I hear a lot of wacky uses such as for traction, as you stated above. What some people think of. I think the three you listed are the best uses.
I guess it depends upon what is “sawdust” or “shavings”, etc based upon size. I have saved whatever it is I get from my planer and joiner when I work Eastern cedar. If I put it in a fine canvas sack with a more durable outer cover, it makes a fine flea proof bed for my shop cats and dogs.
I sprinkle the finer cedar dust from table and band saws around the perimeter of the building. Between that and the chrysanthemums planted in flower beds, no bugs seem interested in getting inside.
Either can go into small “Bull durham” type sacks to put in dresser drawers and closets.
Wow, thats a good idea for making beds for my dogs. I will have to do a little research and see if I can use any shavings or if they have to be Eastern cedar. I love the smell of saw dust, so maybe I will do the same things for my sock drawer lol, I am going to do it for all the drawers because I love the smell