Bought my first lathe yesterday 😁

[Jacob]

Not all woodburners will burn woood shavings.

The right ones do. Needs to be roughly pyramid shape so that sawdust/shavings burns from the surface of the whole heap. Also helps if it's big and needs less refuelling. Found this by chance when we had a Dowling Sumo which burns sawdust and shavings brilliantly and belts out the heat. You can pack it tight but it always slumps enough to allow airflow over the surface, which you don't get with a vertical box/cylinder shape.
Surprised no makers have cashed in on this as it's very useful.

 

[Sachakins]

Here's a good way to burn sawdust, with T start of burn and how to add it as you go along

 

[Jacob]

Here's a good way to burn sawdust, with T start of burn and how to add it as you go along

Interesting.
The Dowling Sumo not only has pyramid shape but also has deep bottom half over the riddle plate which holds a pile of sawdust. Mine takes 3 to 4 coal hods packed tight and I can fill it to the top, no need for kindling or other stuff, though a few sheets of newspaper set alight on top will ignite even fine sawdust.
It's all in the shape and top fed air supply.
Adding it to a hot stove can be hazardous with blowback so I always let it burn away before refilling. But you can add wood quite safely.

 

[Paul Hannaby]

Not every room or workshop could accommodate a wide woodburning stove so Jacob's Dowling Sumo might not be a suitable solution and if you already have a stove, you might not want the outlay of a new stove just to burn woodshavings.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

£1800 is a lot to burn sawdust, good as they are - and that's the smallest.

 

[Robbo3]

£1800 is a lot to burn sawdust, good as they are - and that's the smallest.

Agreed.
Especially when you consider that my 5kw wood burner, which cost under £200 & was bought for the space available for it to fit in rather than its output, allows me to work comfortably in a concrete sectional garage, with its unlined, draughty, walls, except in freezing easterly blizzard conditions.

 

[Jacob]

Agreed.
Especially when you consider that my 5kw wood burner, which cost under £200 & was bought for the space available for it to fit in rather than its output, allows me to work comfortably in a concrete sectional garage, with its unlined, draughty, walls, except in freezing easterly blizzard conditions.

Depends on your circumstances of course but I found that with a bit of turning and a bit more general joinery I can generate a lot of fuel, and with current prices increasing it looks more and more viable.
Add to this that you can burn most paper and cardboard quite cleanly. All that packaging etc.
Also with the right stove you can get a blast of heat from small stuff and sawdust which warms a room quicker than anything else.
Just moved house, no woodburner and really missing it! All that fuel I'm having to put in the bin!

 

[Ttrees]

All that fuel I'm having to put in the bin!

 

[Jacob]

View attachment 174246

Well that's one way of doing it!