# Sawdust Art



## Keato (15 Dec 2016)

Hi all,

Im not sure if anyone else does this but I keep some of the sawdust from my projects. Especially the nice smelling ones or exotic woods.

A list of the sawdust I keep are
Black walnut
Douglas fir
Oak
Panga Panga
Sapele / Utile
Mahogany
African Sandalwood (or Camwood)

and of course Palo Santo. Its an expensive wood to buy so who WOULDN'T keep the sawdust! Plus it smells amazing.


I've been pondering sand art glass bottles but with sawdust instead. Now, I know sand bought for sand art are bigger grains & you're meant to just let them sit stationary so the sand doesn't mix on its own. However with sawdust, especially the very fine sawdust made on my scroll saw, it mixes 

I had bought mini glass bottles with corks, usually used for making charms or keyrings (not sure about the glass though) & they are usually filled with other items but I had a thought of mini sawdust art bottles. 

The sawdust however even very tightly packed in making sure its filled right to the top and then compacted at the top with the cork (a little superglue too) it still mixes at the bottom.


Anyone else tried this or have any recommendations to stop the sawdust from mixing at each level?

PS.
Here is a photo of what it looks like.
from top to bottom it's: Sandalwood, oak, Sapele, Mahogany (difficult to see the split), Panga Panga


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## bodgerbaz (15 Dec 2016)

Looking outside, its definitely December and not April!!! :shock: :wink: :?


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## novocaine (15 Dec 2016)

tamp each section then apply a thin bead of wood glue with a 00 syringe be very careful not to allow the glue to interact with the lower substrait as this will lead to clumping, which is the curse of the skilled dustman (the correct term for a sawdust artist, you may call them sawdusters only if you are part of the inner circle). have you weighed each dust to calculate it's specific gravity, it is critical that you work from heavy to light in order to limit mixing. be aware that sawdust is compressible and as such light pressure on the upper boundary interaction is not suitable for locking layers, you may find you need a dustmans press to apply the correct force, I have seen a few homemade methods but non seem to beat the real thing. be aware that over compression can also lead to problems, and indeed can lead to fires or explosions if done wrong, I'd suggest at this point you consult a trained dustman, you maybe able to find an apprenticeship which would provide you with all safety instruction and skills needed to achieve your desired effects.


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## ChrisR (15 Dec 2016)

Only keep sawdust, to use as a filler in combination with wood glue. :? 

Chris.


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## Claymore (15 Dec 2016)

..........


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## Bm101 (15 Dec 2016)

Pipette with clear glue? Some sort of acrylic liquid? :? Get yourself on Etsy, you might make a fortune!


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## scrimper (15 Dec 2016)

I don't collect sawdust but I am a wood 'sniffer', It's something I have had for years, I often sniff the cut end of a piece of wood to identify it. I do like the smell of Oak but rarely have any. My all time favourite is European Redwood, I just love that oily turpentine smell when I cut it.


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## NazNomad (15 Dec 2016)

The longer I hang about on this forum the more normal I seem to become. :-D


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## Claymore (15 Dec 2016)

.........


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## Dominik Pierog (15 Dec 2016)




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## Keato (15 Dec 2016)

@ bodgerbaz: Heh?

@ novocaine: -_-

@ ChrisR & Claymore: My wood is rarely damaged and when it is i'll go to the doctor, not rub glue/sawdust on it 0.0

@ Bm101: Thanks, i'll give it a go. Etsy however seems like a cash sinkhole. Constant re-listing of items with hardly any orders. I get more orders through Facebook than Etsy.

@ scrimper: I'll sell you exotic woods to sniff if you want! 

@ NazNomad: Erm. okay? :/

@ Claymore: the wood must have been too holy if he dumped them :/


@ everyone: I was asking a legitimate question. It's not an april fools nor a joke. I've been working on a few different things to do with the sawdust. Been trying to extract the scents from them by mixing with ethanol, letting it burn off to try be left with the pure essence. I had the thought of car air fresheners but with a REAL wood smell rather than the fake 'forrest' or 'sandalwood' smells they sell in the shops. I've nearly got Palo Santo scent even though I know I can buy it online I wanted to make it myself.


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## novocaine (16 Dec 2016)

Keato, I did give you a serious response before going off o one.  

in short, you aren't compressing it enough. you've got air between the "grains" and because it's wood dust in the "grains" as well, all that needs to be compressed to stop it sliding about.


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## The Watchkeeper (16 Dec 2016)

' in glue and dust we put our trust' so why not have it on display in bottles, I think it is a great idea and if you can market it as car air fresheners good on you! I also am a wood sniffer, goes back to spending many happy hours as a young child with my dad in his workshop, it's what has given me the love of being a woodworker!


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## Claymore (16 Dec 2016)

........


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## Keato (19 Dec 2016)

@novocaine: I wasn't going off on one. Your reply seemed a little odd. For example a dustman to me is another term for the guys that collect the bins.

lets be honest though your reply did have an atmosphere of taking the mick. "only if you are part of the inner circle", a "dustmans press" doesn't exist as far as I'm aware, over compression might lead to fires or explosions?! C'mon really? You really want to stick with that? Its sawdust not Nitroglycerin.

Yeah okay there was some helpful things in your reply like working from heavy to light in terms of weight but in order to weigh sawdust one needs an analytical balance which costs nearly £1k


As the opening of the bottles are less in diameter than the internal bottle diameter it's difficult to compress the entire surface inside. I've shaped some balsa wood to press down what I can (which is basically directly in the centre) though the dust near the edges of the glass remain uncompressed.

@Claymore, Im still working on a proper car air freshener or something similar. I hate those 'sandalwood' and 'real wood' smell ones. I know what real sandalwood smells like. Especially the oak ones as they NEVER smell like oak. I've worked with them all & know their real scents. Much nicer than the store bought fake scents.


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## novocaine (19 Dec 2016)

I'm not saying that once I'd given you a serious answer I wasn't taking the micky afterwards.  
Oh and I was going off on one, not you  read the response again. 

you could make something like a neoprene plug on the end of a stick. that way you can push it in to the bottle and it will flap out to the edges to compress the sawdust, or use a thinner stick and work round the edges. 

measurements can be done in larger quantities making scales a bit more achievable too.

oh and sawdust explosions, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPIZ5Movuiw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=masxHWftucs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70fZqHsEdMo

and
adiabatic ignition, of sawdust http://www.iafss.org/publications/fss/1/463/view

yes, I will stand by those comments, both real, but presented above in a jokey manner as you are working with such small quantities. 

you are right too, dustman isn't really a thing either, I got carried away with my little world. hard to convey sarcasm in writing. sorry.


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## bodgerbaz (19 Dec 2016)

Is this really the section for eau de oak? This is supposed to be about scroll saws not the waste product that can be captured to make air freshners. Can't it be moved to the 'misc' section along with spoon bending and fire walking . . . just saying


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## Keato (19 Dec 2016)

It could be moved to 'General woodworking' if you want. I posted it in scroll saw because the sawdust Im using is very very fine sawdust which is made with the scroll saw. It's scroll saw related so it was posted here


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## Claymore (19 Dec 2016)

.........


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## Keato (19 Dec 2016)

I think i'd need a still to extract the oils from the wood or sawdust but then I run into the problem of owning a still without a licence in the UK. I wouldn't be using it for making booze but I think one still needs a licence to own a distilling machine or apparatus 

I've been looking up the law but its all relating to making spirits


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