Anyway to make a "log" out of sawdust?

[Noah]

My chainsaw mill makes piles of saw dust, not chips like a regular saw chain, but I have lots of that too. Right now I have a large pile of it hiding under a spruce tree until I figure out what to to with it or it rots. Is there any safe material that can be used to bind it together and press it into a loaf pan or something to make a log that would burn in the stove?

 

[moondoggy]

YO
look at this
http://cgi.ebay.com/Wood-Fire-BRIQU...yZ106200QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

i see nothing on amazon usa but this looks to work real well, and there are others at the bottom.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Briquette-Recycling-Newspaper-eko-mania-E-M1001/dp/B000OOCMB2

 

[daveswoodhauler]

I remember about 30 years ago when my dad put some sawdust into our old wood stove. (Top Loader) About 11:00 one night the thing blew the top of the loader off the stove.....dad wondered why...I said what did you put in the stove? Dad said sawdust...I said, doesn't that might have oil/gas in in from the chainsaw?? No more sawdust in the stove....although being7 at the time I thought it was pretty neat.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

The reason it blows the top off the stove- usually- is that it's finely divided fuel source mixed with air. It's the same reason that you get grain explosions. My brother throws handfulls in his Chiminey and it blows flame out the top like mad. If you put flour in a straw and blow it out into a flame- you'll see what I mean.

You can buy sawdust blowers for fueling industrial applications.

I wonder if I could use my log splitter as a press to make logs etc with tube extrusion.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

you can also get a case of over-fueling where it outgases really quickly then ignites. People burning compressed logs improperly often report this.

 

[Noah]

The reason it blows the top off the stove- usually- is that it's finely divided fuel source mixed with air. It's the same reason that you get grain explosions. My brother throws handfulls in his Chiminey and it blows flame out the top like mad. If you put flour in a straw and blow it out into a flame- you'll see what I mean.

You can buy sawdust blowers for fueling industrial applications.

I wonder if I could use my log splitter as a press to make logs etc with tube extrusion.

That is exactly the reason I wanted it to be a cohesive block. I figured if I just dumped it in there loose I would get the grain silo effect and blow something up. Your second post makes me think it might be better made into small fire starters rather than larger logs. Maybe it would be possible to break chunks off of a larger brick and use as a starter.

My local stove shop gave me this big squeeze bottle of fire starting gell, he said to squirt it on a pile of kindling on the really cold days to push the cold plug out of the chimney. It's made m Imperial I think? I wonder if it would mix with saw dust snd hold it together if compressed.? Time to experiment I guess.

I bet a log splitter would make some really nice sawdust bricks.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I've made firestarter out of sawdust/small woodchips and melted wax. Put it in the bottom of a small paper cup. I only ever used it outdoors- good for emergency situations.

 

[moondoggy]

according to the links i posted, it will compress the sawdust by it self.
if your useing paper you must wet it first

 

[stoveguy2esw]

hmmmm....

making a "log" from sawdust... would be hard on the digestive tract i suppose :shut:

 

[Noah]

Nothing wrong with little extra fiber in your diet eh?

 

[BrotherBart]

Given that the pellet and pressed log guys use over 100,000 lbs of pressure to bind the stuff it looks like it might be a difficult DIY job.

Use it for mulch.

 

[boostnut]

I got a wheelbarrow full of sawdust from my neighbors cabinet making shop last winter and made up some pressed logs. I had some heavy duty 4" cardboard shipping tubes that I cut to about 18" long, made a wood plug for 1 end and used my log splitter to compact the sawdust. You'll be amazed at 2 things. The first is just how much sawdust you can press into a little tube. The second is how much time it takes and mess it makes to produce such a small amount of heat. They burned ok but didn't produce much heat compared to the hardwood I'm used to. Good luck!

 

[RedRanger]

Try the paper bag stuffed with pellets. stand back, you know, just in case it ???