# Shavings anyone...?



## Bloosman (9 Jul 2008)

What does everyone else do with the shavings they make...?????

I have bags full...!

My main heating in the house is a wood burning stove...

...is there a possibility here...heat from my hobby waste...?

Dougie. :wink:


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## Bodrighy (9 Jul 2008)

Don't just chuck them onto the wood burner. They can explode. I am told that if ypou screw them up in paper bags you can burn them like logs however. The main proble is that there is a lot of wood dust in the shavingd from turning.

I recently got rid of 10 bin bags full to a man with chickens who used them to soak up the mud around the hen house.

I have used them for paths in teh garden as well but they soak up a lot of nitrogen so aren't that good for compost unless very diluted with other organic matter.

Pete


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## Bloosman (9 Jul 2008)

Bodrighy":3jic00gv said:


> Don't just chuck them onto the wood burner. They can explode. .
> 
> Pete



Pete,

Thanks for the prompt answer...

I did know about the "exploding" capabilities of the shavings/dust, but wondered if anyone had heard of a method to bind them all together and make burning logs/briquettes...?

Cheers,

Dougie.


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## Tusses (9 Jul 2008)

do a search for paper logs

I am thinking of making some and adding the shavings to that.

The shavings burn well on their own in my workshop, but not to well on the burner in the house.

I was thinking of mixing them in a bucket with a little pva and then set them like bricks in old butter tubs.


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## TEP (9 Jul 2008)

Hi *Dougie*, and welcome to our little round bit of the forum.

You can burn shavings and sawdust in a wood burner, but I believe it needs to be a special type. Try a search around google that should show up something. I believe that the stove has a perforated pipe running up the middle of the inside so as to feed oxygen to the packed shavings/sawdust.

Good luck though, it's a good idea if you can get it up and running.

Try this Log maker . Or this


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## davegw (9 Jul 2008)

Bloosman":1fox4sw7 said:


> but wondered if anyone had heard of a method to bind them all together and make burning logs/briquettes...?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Dougie.



I'm sure I've seen an advert for a log maker in the back of a woodworking magazine, I'll try and look it out when I get a minute.

In the mean time, Have you tried your local recycling site? Mine doesn't take shavings (or more precisely they put them in land fill!) but another one down the road a bit puts them into the compost.

Dave


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## DaveL (9 Jul 2008)

Hi,

I am not a turner so don't have the large volumes of shaving you produce so quickly, but all of the sawdust and shavings I make in the shop is used to heat it over the winter, along with all the scrap pallets / wood I can acquire. 8) I have a small Yotul wood burner and a long handled shovel, I fitted a bit of large dowel on to a standard one, this allows me to put the dust and shavings on the fire instead of throwing them in through the door.

A word of warning about the second log maker linked to above, I had one like that back in the 70s, total waste of time and effort as the wet logs take forever to dry. You would need to make all of them in the height of summer, have days of continuous sun shine and then somewhere very dry to store them until you want to burn then. The first one on the other hand does look like a usable solution.

There is now a commercial machine that will turn sawdust and shavings into pellets for use in multi fuel burner, I think SL Hardwoods now sell the pellets they make from the waste out of their timber preparation.


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## Archy (10 Jul 2008)

Hi , you could try the local stables i get rid of all mine to the horsey people they use it for bedding , most of the dust will sink to the bottom of the bags so it it easy for them to keep that separate , although all mine is either ash or beech shavings mahog we burn on the workshop stoves . 
Hope that helps 

Richard


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## Bloosman (10 Jul 2008)

Thanks for all the replies guys...certainly food for thought...!

Dougie.


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## davegw (14 Jul 2008)

Thought I would resurrect this.

I have three wheely bins

Black - Goes to landfill
Green - Normal recycling
Brown - Garden Waste

I have just had this reply from my Local council in reponse to the question raised in this thread (I.e. what do you do with Shavings):

"Thank you for your enquiry about the recycling of wood waste. If this
wood is untreated, we will be happy to collect it in your brown garden
waste bin. If it has been treated, you will need to dispose of it in
your black household waste bin."

Looks like our normally mad council have got something right at last. (I haven't asked them to define treated, but I'm assuming shavings are fine (as they are normally just dried wood.


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## Paul.J (14 Jul 2008)

Yes Dave same here.
We have a green collection fortnightly and i phoned and checked with the council to see if it was ok to dispose of all the shavings i get and they said it was fine  I also cut up all the off cuts into smaller pieces and they take those too.


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## Bodrighy (14 Jul 2008)

Paul.J":bcffe2ln said:


> I also cut up all the off cuts into smaller pieces and they take those too.



If they are big enough to cut up then they aren't offcuts, they're blanks for smaller things :lol: 

Pete


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## dennyk (14 Jul 2008)

I put my sawdust and shaving in the the green wheelie bin the local council spplies for garden waste,


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## cornucopia (22 Jul 2008)

i manage to get rid of some of mine in the council garden waste bin but some days i can prodouce 4 -5 bags so i end up waiting till theres acar full and taking them to the tip.
I did try using some as a mulch but as has already been said they take the nitrogn out of the ground so you need to add a genral purpose feed to stop leaves from yellowing.


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## Wanlock Dod (22 Jul 2008)

> Looks like our normally mad council have got something right at last.



Fret ye not, I'm sure they did it by accident. :? 

I put all (well most) of my shavings on the compost heap, and it does an OK job of diluting the grass clippings. It's not an ideal solution as the production of grass clippings and shavings is far from synchronised.

Cheers,

Dod


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## hobbler (3 Aug 2008)

Another use is create dye's from the shavings LOML is into spinning and weaving and uses them to colour her fibres.

The darker the wood the darker the tanin but not always.

Simple process of boiling water with the shavings in it leave to cool and drain off the coloured water into a jar empty out shavings and return the coloured water to the pot add fibre which is best placed inside a panty hose off cut.

Or as above have fibre in panty hose and cook along with shavings.

Of course the dyes work for timber too.

So contact your local spinners weavers group and you might end up with some nice knitted jumper etc.


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