Using leftover small wood scraps

Someone made a suggestion to me that was interesting and I thought I’d come ask you all. :slight_smile:

I challenge myself to use all my scraps as much as possible, but there are always tiny bits of burned wood that can’t be used for much else.
A colleague of mine suggested using it for the garden. Assuming that the wood is safe and doesn’t contain any bad chemicals, would this be a good idea?

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Sure? I’d stick it in compost first if it was small enough, but you might be interested in finding out more about hugelkultur, which is a way of burying extra wood and trimmings in your garden beds to enrich the soil over years of decomposing.

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Thanks! My husband has a raised garden in our patio. (I’m not the gardener, I have enough on my plate! lol) I’ll tell him about it!

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So - depends on what “scraps” you’re talking about. If I’m not mistaken the proofgrade stuff has a particleboard core (particleboard is probably the wrong term) and those are typically a no-no in composting piles. If it’s hardwood, plywood that’s solid wood throughout, I’d say yea, but even then the plywood would have glues holding it together which I wouldn’t think you’d want in there.

I’ve been ripping old flooring out of our house and processing the old boards into usable lumber. I’ve got about 1000 linear feet of hickory that’s begging for a project or twelve. Cutting all of the old tongue and groove out generated a TON of sawdust. Luckily my dust collector grabbed most of it for me, so that’s the “dry” material thats going in my compost pile. And even then I was a little sketchy as I’m sure I’ve cut some plywood in that sawdust.

A small GF bonfire might be in order. A campfire seems like the best way to enjoy the scraps we can’t use!

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I made some fire-starters filled with scraps, offcuts, and a little candle wax.

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This is awesome! Perfect for campfires this summer. (I’m hoping we still get to go often, but our daughter has a big surgery, so we’ll see.)

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love that.

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I would be loath to burn them :anguished:

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I was thinking about that! Hahaha

I did have the thought of cutting a project, making the box shape around it and just using the box shape around it. It wouldn’t have the cute campfire design but - no waste! :smiley:

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While the idea is nice, you really should avoid burning plywood in a fire you are around and/or cooking upon on account of the glue that is used to bond the ply together.

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these were designed for, and used, in my wood-burning fireplace; about as much chance of inhalation as when originally burning it in the Glowforge, but thanks for your concern.

If I were to produce these for sale or as gifts, I would use solid pine or cedar… regular woodsmoke is safe to breath, right?! :slight_smile:

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Be very careful about having “Piles” of wood in your garden.

my dad is a prolific wood turner. when he noticed termites in his shavings outside on the ground he stopped. and he lives in a cement block house. :wink:

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In Tucson we have a saying, “ it’s not if you’re going to get termites, but when.”

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:fearful:

Guess I won’t be listening to that advice from that colleague. :rofl:
ok, so no garden, no burning… lol

Clever!

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If you can put all-wood sawdust into your compost pile, why not? If your pile is kept turned/mixed, at the right temp and moisture, then it will break down like it’s supposed to.

The termite problem would nix the idea of top-dressing/mulching your garden, though. :pensive:

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A lot more concrete pad and block housing there rather than Florida, And there is a species that does not need to have an underground hideaway to not freeze or have enough moisture :frowning_face:

Its the one good thing about MDF… termites hate it.

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