I have a large sawmill on the property, and I think it makes more sawdust then dimension lumber. I now get much of my supplies from Amazon.com so I have a lot of big boxes. When in the driest part of summer I fill many boxes with dry sawdust and store them in a connex that is painted dark brown. The color makes it very hot inside, hot and dry, that ensures the sawdust is perfect for starting the woodstove in the winter. I keep a five gallon bucket of this dry sawdust in the cabin that I deposit grease from cooking into, and some table scraps. Makes good fire starter, and I keep a oiler can for oiling machinery, with used motor oil. A few cups of bacon greased sawdust and squirt a few shots of used engine oil, add some kindling, a match. and quick like a bunny jump back in bed for a half hour, till the cabin warms.
In the old days they used dry sawdust for insulation in walls and floors when building with dimension lumber. I now use those plastic bags that come from the grocery store, for insulating walls of out buildings, that might be pressed into shelters in a survival situation.
Sawdust is treated with fireproofing chemicals to make it much less flammable. I do not know which chemicals these companies use.
Great useful ideas on sawdust. Other than use as a fire starter, I use it as landfill mix patching spots around my place.
If you look up Mittleider gardening method you can use a mix of sawdust and sand to be a weedfree gardening mix. I did it for a few years then missed gardening for 2 years so I need to make more mix this spring. in 4 years it broke down to be probably less than a 1/4 of what I started with and is beautiful and full of worms. Without looking up the ration I think it's like 2.5 to 1.
If I use sawdust it is from trees or branches that I cut myself. Using sawdust from treated woods and adding motor oil kinda poisons the air in your house doesn't it?
The saw mill is used only in conjunction with logged Spruce, Hemlock, and some Cottonwood. Never used for treated wood products. As to the used engine oil, it is just roughly a tablespoon full. You do know that there are furnaces that are designed to burn used engine oil.
sawdust can be used as a absorbent for sweeping up a oil spill in the shop, sort like oil dry.. Also as a insulation for ice in a icehouse. little better stove can be made from a five gallon metal bucket and a cardboard tube is centered in the bucket and sawdust is placed around the tube and rammed in place. A fire is stared at the bottom of he tube and it burns from the inside out. A course sawdust can be used for stable bedding and in chicken coops. No cedar in the coop though.
Ok I gotcha thanks for the response. Soon I would like to invest into a wood burning stove once I get my own place. Since I just got back home from a year in Washington and am going through the pre-hiring process for a new job I currently live with the parents and do not have the liberty to customize my living space to my own standards.
