What do you do with shavings?
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I’m working on getting the aprons prepped and I will end up with a lot of shavings due to the wood, some glue up misalignment, and to remove twist. I’ve already planed the tops, and have a large amount of shavings that I see I will end up with… Other than great fire starter, does anyone have anything they do with the shavings from the bench build?
BrianOntario, Canada
I have the same problem Brian. I found a few people that keep rabbits, guinea pigs and I get rid of a few that way. It’s amazing how many you end up with, It seems such a waste to just throw them away. 🙂
We have a skinny pig( goofy looking hairless guinea pig…) but I’m told pine can cause irritation so the kids vetoed that one. It does make great campfire starter though!
Ontario, Canada
I put mine in my compost pile. Great “brown” matter.
I put mine along with small wood off cuts in the green bin for garden waste which is collected by the council
Wigan, Lancs. England :
I put Mine in a garbage bin designated for “yard waste” it is picked up weekly and processed into compost. In the spring you can go pick up a trailer load of the mulch for free and dress up the flower beds.
Memphis, Tennessee
I put mine in the garden waste bin. I used to use them as bedding material for my hens but they insisted on eating the shavings and I ended up having to pull some from their throats, so I don’t do it any more. They really need shredding before going to the hens.
They do make good compost, eventually. You need to balance the high carbon content with some nitrogen-rich material to get it to rot down really well. I think walnut shavings should be binned or burned though – I seem to recall something about them being unsuitable for compost.
George.
"To know and not do is to not know"
I have a box full of them I was planning on using them for packing if I send out a gift, such as a dovetail box, etc… then I could pack it in shavings. I thought it would be a nice touch.
I just burnt a load of mine. We then dig the ash into the ground where we grow our Potatoes. When we’re actually growing them I cover the Potatoes with the ash too. We always get a decent crop.
Anything that’s left over just goes to the local recycling place to be turned into compost.
Keep Calm and have a Cup of Tea
I do a couple of things with them
1.) Sheet composting or lasagna gardening right in my garden. No need to throw them away and get new mulch or compost later just do it right on site. Saves time money and gas.
2.) Mulch for raspberries makes the soil slightly acidic the raspberries seem to really like that.
3.) Can be used as bedding for red wiggler worms if doing vermicomposting.
4.) I also use it as insulating material in a my Warre beehives top quilt.Alright hope that helps give someone some ideas.
I toss mine in the chicken pen or add it to the laying boxes. The girls have a great time scratching through it and chasing the ends that the wind blows around. They’ll decompose and by next spring be just a little more richness to the soil we transfer out to the vegetable gardens.
John Purser
Hubert, NCI put mine in leaf bags and out to the curb. They make for excellent tinder as well.
I dont eat them, I dont have horses/guinea pigs etc….
Oak and ash axe-waste I keep for kinderling the woodburning stove
If I was a potter I would use the shavings to build a slow kiln (sawdust kiln)
Mine eventually get made into chipboard and mdf (as far as I know any way) I have some large sacks which i fill up and take to the tip, usually 4 or 5 each weekI planned up some pine 2×4’s for saw horses and filled a dog bed up with the shavings for the dogs… Not sure how long the smell will be around, but the pine does seem to freshen up there area.. Eventually, I’ll probably just throw those out in the refuse bin and give the dogs fresh shavings as I get some
Mine go into the organics bin, which the city picks up every week. I would use the shavings for my Daughter’s Hamster cage, but we read that wood shavings are unsuitable for hamsters as the natural acids in the wood can cause severe respiratory infections.
-Scott Los Angeles
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