what to do with all the sawdust

[wannabegreener]

newbie alert...

What is a noodle. I saw mention of a noodle cut, but what is a noodle that you would have to pick up?

Thanks

 

[mywaynow]

Noodle refers to cutting with the grain of the wood. It creates long, curly shreds of wood, not chips that you get with normal log cutting.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

newbie alert...

What is a noodle. I saw mention of a noodle cut, but what is a noodle that you would have to pick up?

Thanks

A word of caution if you feel incline to try wood noodles in your favourite pasta or soup recipes: ALLOW FOR EXTRA LONG COOKING TIMES!

 

[wannabegreener]

I get it. Noodles are the results of making noodle cuts. I did this a little but seem to get more dust than strings or chips. Maybe my chain was not sharp enough when I did this in the past.

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Thistle]

Noodles (I've been using chainsaws,milling & doing woodturning,cabinets/furniture etc for 30 yrs & never heard these coarse shavings that are from 'slabbing' called such until joining this forum.) Go figure lol.

When you have shorter pieces,lay them flat & cut parallel with the chain instead of standing log on end,this is what you end up with,instead of coarse 'granular' sawdust.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I get it. Noodles are the results of making noodle cuts. I did this a little but seem to get more dust than strings or chips. Maybe my chain was not sharp enough when I did this in the past.

Thanks for the explanation.

To make noodles you have to cut on the side of the rounds, not from the top down. Cutting from the top down will result in that fine dust like chips you speak of.

 

[woodsmaster]

I have a neighbor that plants pine seedlings in pots of sawdust. They look healthy. It seems that there wouldn't be any nitrogen for them?

 

[wannabegreener]

newbie alert...

What is a noodle. I saw mention of a noodle cut, but what is a noodle that you would have to pick up?

Thanks

A word of caution if you feel incline to try wood noodles in your favourite pasta or soup recipes: ALLOW FOR EXTRA LONG COOKING TIMES!

It would solve the problem of not getting enough fiber in your diet, but I don't think I want to experience the BM that goes with it. :shut:

 

[wannabegreener]

I get it. Noodles are the results of making noodle cuts. I did this a little but seem to get more dust than strings or chips. Maybe my chain was not sharp enough when I did this in the past.

Thanks for the explanation.

To make noodles you have to cut on the side of the rounds, not from the top down. Cutting from the top down will result in that fine dust like chips you speak of.

I have never cut on the side, so that would explain why I don't get noodles. I do get the coarse sawdust that you mention.

 

[madrone]

I put my bark, sawdust, noodles, and ash in the compost bin with the endless oak leaves from each fall. It takes plenty of time to become mulch, but it's great stuff for the clay soil we have around here. I have a separate bin for food scraps, and add some from each bin in the spring when I turn in the garden.

 

[DonNC]

Wouldnt leaving the sawdust in a pile on the ground be just as much of a termite magnet as leaving logs on the ground year round?

 

[mikes67]

I keep a five gallon bucket full in my garage to soak up oil spills and such. My buddy takes the rest and uses it in his chicken house for bedding

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Just curious what you guys do with all of your sawdust and noodles. I dump most of mine in the garden and till it in. I have been making firestarters with them as well. Got some hobby wax and mixed some dryer lint and sawdust together, we will see how it works out

Jeff

Putting it on the garden can be good or bad. If your ground is sandy it can actually help if you do things right. We've used it but waited until the crops came up and then spread the sawdust between the rows. This will help hold the moisture and over time will help to build up the ground. The bad part is that it can and will sour the soil. The cure for that is extra nitrogen....but nitrogen now is really expensive so I would question putting sawdust on a garden now.

Our sawdust is simply left in the woods.

Er, I think lime would need to be used for sour (acid) soil. But your right about needing to add more nitrogen.

Alfalfa meal, animal manures, bloodmeal, or some other nitrogen source would be needed to counteract the effects of the wood chips on the available nitrogen...besides counteracting the wood chips it will also encourage the critters in the soil to devour the wood chips. Mixing in green grass clippings with the chips is a good way to get rid of some grass clippings and will add some nitrogen.

Ed

Ed, yes we always used lots of extra cow manure when using sawdust. And yes, if you have sandy ground (acid) you need lime usually every other year around here.

 

[mesuno]

I think I've posted this before, but sawdust makes for an amazing composting toilet. The carbon helps break down all the nitrogen in your humanure and makes excellent hot compost heaps.

http://humanurehandbook.com/

I've used composting toilets when running school camps for 50 children, ages 13 to 14, for a week. No odours, no need for drains and water, no expensive and smelly chemicals.

I'll probably set one up in our woods this year with all the sawdust we are gonna be making from our milling work.

Mike