Man Glitter.
If you have run a sawmill you realize how quickly sawdust builds up. In our case the sawdust is also on the side that you walk while operating the mill. The amount seen in this picture is after cutting one fairly small log. When your mill is on the ground it’s just a little more difficult to keep the work area clean and we all know the importance of keeping our work areas clean. If you are lucky enough to have a tractor with a bucket that you can drive through and easily and quickly move the mess this might become just part of the work day. Otherwise you will be shoveling, blowing or living with debris buildup.
We don’t have any big equipment to help and all the kids are now too old to be given cleanup jobs as punishment, um I mean character building life skills. In the past we would just move the trailer and shovel and blow debris until the area was clean. What if there was a better way? Enter the year of the shop build. The new shop is bigger than the old barn that had been in this spot. We also knew that the solar kiln would be going in, eventually, so trees needed to come down to let the sun in. In all we had about 7 trees that came down to make room. We were also cleaning up the woods of limbs and brush. The decision was made to buy a small chipper to get rid of all the piles that were starting to build up. The chipper has a bag that hangs off the outfeed with a drawstring that tightens down to keep it in place. Free mulch!
One day while milling up the logs that came down during the build the chipper happened to be sitting nearby. Why can’t the bag be used on the sawmill outfeed?
It works perfectly. The dust from the first log was cleaned up and several more had been milled after we attached the bag. There is still dust on the ground. Most of that was from the first log. If you notice there is a hole in the bag which does allow some dust to escape.
There are two other tools that help to keep the mill running and the area clear one is just a simple shop bench brush which can be used to run down the rail each time the head is pulled back. The other is the battery leaf blower. We have a gas backpack blower and a walk behind blower but the battery one is powerful, fairly light weight, and easy to grab and go. Between logs and sometimes even between cuts you can grab the blower and just give everything a cleaning. Helps to keep it all running smoothly and keeps your field of vision clear. If you can get that dust before moisture turns it into slug it’s so much easier to deal with.
So what happens when that bag fills up with sawdust?
In our case we dump it right on the compost pile. Currently we use a two bin system but will be expanding as our composting grows. The sawdust bags go on the first bin that fine dust will break down quickly. The bins themselves are made using the waste cuts. Those cut offs, for us, are much more than firewood. They have been siding for kids forts, walkway boards, elevation in the chicken yards to keep them out of the mud, and sides for out compost bins. They are not treated so there is no worry about what leaches into the compost that will go in the gardens and our food. While they will not last as long as other options that isn’t an issue for us because milling allows us to replace them when needed. So far these have lasted two years .
