Does keeping pots of sawdust make sense?

[rudy de haas]

A project I'm working on required inserting 8 inch x 1/4" lag bolts in cedar. With the heads countersunk about 1/2" in I had expected to make plugs to fill the holes and then hope to sand them out of sight. What I did, however, was mix some cedar sawdust with glue, fill the holes, and sanded that down after it dried. There is no consistent grain direction on the result, but they're hard to see so I'm not overly concerned.

Still, it's a nice easy way to make more-or-less ok fixes to a variety of problems and so I am going to be saving a jam jar of every kind of sawdust I make - just in case. What I don't know, is whether this is weird, common, sensible, or stupid. What do you think?

(I did check for sawdust on offer from wood restoration places - found nothing in very limited looking. If people think keeping dust a good idea, does this also mean there's a market for ground-up too-damaged-to-sell grandparent furniture? )

[lowell holmes]

Sounds like a good tip to me. I wouldn't see much need to keep pots and pots full of saw dust though. You can always make some if you need it.

[Matt Day]

Sounds like a good tip to me. I wouldn't see much need to keep pots and pots full of saw dust though. You can always make some if you need it.

Agreed. If you need some, take a piece to a disc or belt sander and make some.

[Rich Riddle]

I reintegrate sawdust back to nature.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Does keeping pots of sawdust make sense?
I thought so at one time.
I saved as much as I could - - all in black plastic garbage bags.
I had a bunch of them & they were always in the way.
They finally settled into a spot in between the front of a work bench and the overhead garage door.

After sitting there, undisturbed by me, for a few years, I finally decided to dump them.
Water had somehow gotten into them and I had a bunch of real nice "rot", sprinkled with hundreds of thousands of mouse droppings.

Thankfully - - there's a field behind our house... ;).


Add me to the list of "make it as you need it".

[Cody Colston]

It depends on the quality you expect from your work. Mixing sawdust and glue to fill a void is not considered fine woodworking by any measure.

[eugene thomas]

Well kind of a general slam?

[Charles Taylor]

I once collected enough walnut dust from my sander to fill a medium-sized spice jar for just such a use. After ten years, the jar is still pretty full, but not as full as it once was. I agree with Cody in principle, but the practical reality of my work is another story. Whether it's Famowood or a homemade mixture, sometimes things need fixing.

[Tom Ewell]

Yep, don't keep much around any more just make up some for repairs or mistakes if needed.
Also learned a long time ago that 'perfection' is pretty dog gone hard to achieve without using the little tricks now and again.

[Greg Hines, MD]

I have done that. I also turned a few rolling pins out of a cedar tree, vacuumed up the shavings, gave them to my wife, and she sewed up bags for them for sachets in drawers/closets to keep moths out.

Doc

[Brian Tymchak]

I would make sawdust as I need it as wood even of the same species can have different color tone from board to board.

[rudy de haas]

It depends on the quality you expect from your work. Mixing sawdust and glue to fill a void is not considered fine woodworking by any measure.

Agreed - in my defense (a) I don't claim to do fine woodwork; and (b) the holes I filled with the stuff are not likely to be seen by anyone else. However, you bring up a good ethical point: when is good enough, good enough?

A genuinely talented woodworker I used to consider a friend once expressed his opinion to me that what the customer doesn't see, doesn't matter. His stuff looks great, but if you take it apart you'll see him taking every possible shortcut and cheapout. I think his approach dishonest, but forgive myself for using sawdust/glue filler where really I should be making custom dowling and slicing it, so I don't know if I'm holier than he, or just more of a hypocrite.

[J.R. Rutter]

I keep a plastic quart container of mixed sawdust from my orbital sanders (thanks, Dust Deputy) and tint it with dye as needed before mixing with epoxy or cyanoacrylate to fill minor defects, knot holes, etc.

[mreza Salav]

I keep a plastic quart container of mixed sawdust from my orbital sanders (thanks, Dust Deputy) and tint it with dye as needed before mixing with epoxy or cyanoacrylate to fill minor defects, knot holes, etc.

Like J.R. I mix saw dust as filler with epoxy when needed. I don't keep a lot but small containers of a few species I use often (maple, cherry, walnut, etc).

[Rod Sheridan]

I reintegrate sawdust back to nature.

So do I, it gets taken to Diann's parents farm and the chickens use it as bedding........Rod.

[Cody Colston]

Agreed - in my defense (a) I don't claim to do fine woodwork; and (b) the holes I filled with the stuff are not likely to be seen by anyone else. However, you bring up a good ethical point: when is good enough, good enough?

A genuinely talented woodworker I used to consider a friend once expressed his opinion to me that what the customer doesn't see, doesn't matter. His stuff looks great, but if you take it apart you'll see him taking every possible shortcut and cheapout. I think his approach dishonest, but forgive myself for using sawdust/glue filler where really I should be making custom dowling and slicing it, so I don't know if I'm holier than he, or just more of a hypocrite.

I don't claim to do fine woodworking, either, but I do the best I can do. There are usually (always?) mistakes made. Some of them can and should be repaired. Deciding whether a mistake can be successfully repaired is always a personal decision. Even if the end user cannot see arepair that isn't compatable with good craftsmanship, I know it's there. I have done the glue/sawdust thing in the past but as I've progressed with my woodworking, my standards have risen.

BTW, I think your former friend is being dishonest, too...to his customers and himself. I can understand the need to make a living as a woodworker but one compromise leads to another and eventually, the result is not even good, much less fine craft.

[Scott Perkins47]

Save your milk cartons and smaller plastic bottles and jars then mix your sawdust with
oil and or melted wax for fire starters. If with oil of course jars with lids. The melted
wax starters can be put into muffin tins as they cool and will become fire starter muffins.

[rudy de haas]

Save your milk cartons and smaller plastic bottles and jars then mix your sawdust with
oil and or melted wax for fire starters. If with oil of course jars with lids. The melted
wax starters can be put into muffin tins as they cool and will become fire starter muffins.

I there's someone at your local farmer's market who sells BBQ steaks, that person may be able to sell your muffins as briguet starters. Much safer than fluid and probably more appealing to the urban customer.

[Jim Finn]

I toss my sawdust but I do keep about ten jars full of sanding powder from different woods. I mix it with white glue to fill cracks and very small voids. Sawdust is way to coarse for this but the powder from our sanders works well.

[Mel Fulks]

Yes, keeping pot in saw dust could be a good idea ,especially with acrid woods like WRC.

[Biff Phillips]

Agreed - in my defense (a) I don't claim to do fine woodwork; and (b) the holes I filled with the stuff are not likely to be seen by anyone else. However, you bring up a good ethical point: when is good enough, good enough?

A genuinely talented woodworker I used to consider a friend once expressed his opinion to me that what the customer doesn't see, doesn't matter. His stuff looks great, but if you take it apart you'll see him taking every possible shortcut and cheapout. I think his approach dishonest, but forgive myself for using sawdust/glue filler where really I should be making custom dowling and slicing it, so I don't know if I'm holier than he, or just more of a hypocrite.

It all depends. I don't necessarily think your friend is dishonest.
Here is an example.. He is tasked with making a small base cabinet out of plywood. The inside will not be seen.
Most customers are not going to care if the inside is pocked screwed together, especially if that results in a cheaper price for them.
And the result is probably something that is still going to outlast the cheap junk they could have bought at a big box store.

Now obviously, if a builder tells the buyer that the drawers are hand cut dovetails, but they were not, that is dishonest.
If the builder just says the drawers are dovetailed, but uses a machine, that is still honest.

Point is, everyone has a different definition of what fine woodworking is and what they are willing to pay for.
Maybe your friend needs to take every shortcut in order to stay at a competitive price point. As long as he doesn't lie about it, no big deal really.

I have had people ask me to build them custom furniture. Usually all I have to do is tell them how much the wood costs (which is more than $50 they had in mind) and then they suddenly lose interest, which is what I want to happen .

[Brad Barnhart]

I agree. There's a fine line between a woodworker & a "fine woodworker." If you look at it from a reality point of view, IMO, there is no "perfect project." I have a friend who's been building & installing his own cabinets for over 40 years. I've seen him make mistakes that blew my mind, but by the time he was done with the job, you wouldn't even know he had a screw up. Some of his ways are, shall we say, behind the times, but they work for him.

I don't consider myself a fine woodworker by no means. I'm a self taught retired truck driver that took up woodworking over 20 years ago as a stress reliever. I've read every book I could that pertained to what I wanted to do. And started making customized firewood from there. Now I can repair my mistakes in my projects to the point, I'm the only one that knows they're there. My customers are happy with the work, & so far, I've not had any comebacks. And I keep a few containers of dust from sanders, & use it.

I think woodworking takes a lot more than fancy tools. A dimensional mind, creative thinking, craftsmanship, the ability to put your hands to work by the creation in your mind. Its a lot more than fixing minor screw ups with sawdust & glue.