# Using sawdust to make firewood brick



## sapratt (Nov 9, 2009)

I was reading an article on firewood bricks.  They said they compress the sawdust into a brick.
Well I don't have anyway to do that.  Then I got to thinking I use wax and saw dust to make fire starters.
Would that work to make a firewood brick or would that be burning to much wax?  
Any thoughts on this?


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## Cedrusdeodara (Nov 9, 2009)

I think that would put out a huge amount of wax in your system. Wax does burn, so any wax fumes you send up your stack may condense there into a flammable residue.  I would not try this


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## Duetech (Nov 9, 2009)

Cedrusdeodara said:
			
		

> I think that would put out a huge amount of wax in your system. Wax does burn, so any wax fumes you send up your stack may condense there into a flammable residue.  I would not try this



+1 I am inclined to agree with Cedrusdeodara. At the least you will get a lot of unburned wax exiting the chimney as black smoke but some will unquestionably stick to the inside of your chimney and allow for a potential chimney fire.


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## sapratt (Nov 9, 2009)

Good point I never thought about unburnt wax sticking to the inside of the chimney.  I don't even
want to think about the mess it would make.
I just read that article and thought,  To bad there wasn't a way I could burn it.
I'll just stick to the original plan putting it in the garden and compost pile.


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## Wood Duck (Nov 9, 2009)

Sawdust doesn't make a great addition for garden soil, since it has much higher ratio of carbon to nitrogen than most plant material. That is to say it is mostly carbon compounds and not a lot of nutrients. As bacteria and fungi break down the wood, they need to capture nitrogen from the soil or water to balance all the carbon in the wood. This means rotting wood chips can absorb nitrogen and other nutrients from your garden soil, and in general you want the nitrogen and other nutrients to be available for plant growth, not used to rot sawdust. I would use the sawdust/saw chips, etc as a mulch on your paths and not mix it into the soil. As it slowly rots in the path it doesn't cause any problems. Mixing it into the planting beds causes it to rot faster and can create problems like slow growing or yellow plants. I think you can compost it, but avoid creating a big pile of nothing but sawdust since it won't compost well by ltself, I think.


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## EKLawton (Nov 9, 2009)

Wood Duck said:
			
		

> Sawdust doesn't make a great addition for garden soil, since it has much higher ratio of carbon to nitrogen than most plant material. That is to say it is mostly carbon compounds and not a lot of nutrients. As bacteria and fungi break down the wood, they need to capture nitrogen from the soil or water to balance all the carbon in the wood. This means rotting wood chips can absorb nitrogen and other nutrients from your garden soil, and in general you want the nitrogen and other nutrients to be available for plant growth, not used to rot sawdust. I would use the sawdust/saw chips, etc as a mulch on your paths and not mix it into the soil. As it slowly rots in the path it doesn't cause any problems. Mixing it into the planting beds causes it to rot faster and can create problems like slow growing or yellow plants. I think you can compost it, but avoid creating a big pile of nothing but sawdust since it won't compost well by ltself, I think.



yes it does rob nitrogen, but if he has clay or sandy soil it is still benificial.


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## blades (Nov 9, 2009)

Don't know if they left out the part about heating the sawdust as well as dampening it up first before compressing. The reason for the heat is to get the sap( for lack of the proper term) to get stick and bind it all together. The of course they go on to drying them back to the proper humidity level  One of the reasons those bricks/logs have a kinda shiny surface. Some places used heated dies as well.  I have heard of molasses being used as a binding agent. I asked my son about it a while back and he suggested vinegar ( he is an organic chemist).


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## KeepItNatural (Nov 9, 2009)

I bet you could make a brick making form pretty easily out of some wood & screws or clamps.  a quick browse through google would help.
http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/739605551/m/678106888?r=631109298#631109298

I did a real quick search and found this article.  If it doesn't help- at least maybe its a step in the right direction for you.


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## afblue (Nov 9, 2009)

rsgBJJfighter said:
			
		

> I bet you could make a brick making form pretty easily out of some wood & screws or clamps.  a quick browse through google would help.
> http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/739605551/m/678106888?r=631109298#631109298
> 
> I did a real quick search and found this article.  If it doesn't help- at least maybe its a step in the right direction for you.



Another forum I am part of, My dad ends up with like 20 gals a week of Bio Diesel Biproduct, just dont know if I am going to start chipping logs and mixing them with saw dust?

Wax mixed with anything I wouldnt use for more than fire starters.


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