What to do with the scraps and dust?

[dwcurry]

Just curious, what does everyone do with their sawdust and their small scraps of wood.

I have been throwing my dust away.

Anything wrong with using the scraps in the smoker (currently I have scrap red oak and walnut). Any particular wood that you should not use in the smoker?

Kingfish season is approaching, so your response would be appreciated :)

[Hacksaw123]

Just curious, what does everyone do with their sawdust and their small scraps of wood.

I have been throwing my dust away.

Anything wrong with using the scraps in the smoker (currently I have scrap red oak and walnut). Any particular wood that you should not use in the smoker?

Kingfish season is approaching, so your response would be appreciated :)
I live in the frozen north and I use some of my sawdust on the icy exterior stairs and driveway for traction. I like it better than sand because if it gets tracked inside it won't cause scratches on the floors. Other than that, I burn it.

[VASandy]

I use the oak and hickory scraps in the smoker all the time. Even the sawdust when soaked does a great job in the smoker. I don't use the walnut scraps or sawdust, as I think walnut may be somewhat toxic.

The larger not-so-dusty sawdust I give to a friend with horses. She likes to put it in the walkways of her barn.

[Sawdust'nStitches]

All of the chips I empty from the dust collector go to a friend who uses them for cat litter and animal bedding at a rescue organization. At the odd times when she doesn't need all of them I offer them (free) through Craigslist. Never takes more than a day to get rid of them. Walnut shavings go to the landfill or into the compost bin, in small quantities.

Wood scraps that are too small to use for other projects get saved to be burned when we go camping. Plywood and treated wood scraps go to the landfill.
John

[ggirimon]

If your close to any farm they may have a use for it.

Am I correct to say that i heard on an episode of Norm Abram (New Yankee Workshop) sends all his sawdust to a chicken farmer?

[Andy_M]

Great question. All that stuff fills up the trash quick.

Is there any value in spreading the dust out on the lawn as some sort of mulch? A friend made that suggestion, after seeing the mass amount of stuff in the dust collector. It's mostly just the standard stuff.... red oak, walnut, cherry and maple. I'm an incompetent gardener. My knowledge stops at mowing and pulling weeds, so I'm fearful of hurting the grass... Comments would be appreciated!

-Andy

[VASandy]

I'm reluctant to use the dust around the house as we're in a subdivision with neighbors around with children. I'd rather not have the dust flying around getting in their lungs. If you can manage to spread it right before a rain, the rain will wash away the finer particles and leave the path nice and soft. If you have kids that run around barefoot, though, I'd think splinters would be a problem.

I wouldn't put it on a garden as mulch. I know that black walnut has a toxin in it that kills other plants. I'm almost certain the toxin is contained in the roots, but just to be on the safe side, I don't use the sawdust around plants.

[Woussko]

Pine and fur chips (small) and sawdust have been used as bedding for cows for many years. I'm not sure about other woods.

Personally I would try to send it to a county or state owned mass burn incinerator and they can make useful heat out of your scraps/waste.

[Gofor]

Walnut is not good for use around animals and can be toxic to some plants. As for spreading it on the lawn, a light layer should not hurt. Too much, and it will rob the soil of nitrogen as it decomposes, so you may have to add some depending on your lawn grass. (This goes for compost piles, also). My pine and oak shavings and sawdust go to my nephew, who raises chickens. He uses it for bedding, then burns it and returns it to me for my neighbor to use in his garden. The rest goes into my woods to keep the undergrowth down on the pathways I have cleared out for walking.

Go

[LuciKnows]

We use the dust for our garden. The scraps get put into the wood stove kindling box.