Sawdust briquettes

[Eric Vogus]

This is an old air operated strut compressor that I got for free from the shop I work at. Wanted to find a use for all the sawdust from my homemade csm.

 

[MAD MARK]

Have you burned them?
First year doing them?
Whats the binder?
How long?
How wide?

Thread is overflowing with info...

 

[Eric Vogus]

Have you burned them?
First year doing them?
Whats the binder?
How long?
How wide?

Thread is overflowing with info...

I have burned some. They are about 10” long and 5” round. I have only burned one that was about 3” x5” on a piece of steel outside. It burned for 3+hours or should I say smoldered. It burnt completely to nothing but ash. I am using shredded junk mail and old tax paper work that I no Long need to keep soaked in water and blended into mush mixed about 50/50 with soaked saw dust. Yes it is my first year. I built a track/rail style chainsaw mill and thought it would be a good way to use as much of the trees I can.

 

[dancan]

These guys http://www.fiberfuel.ca/ make a sawdust block that burns very well .
No binder at all , not sure what the tonnage is that they use to press out the blocks .

 

[sb47]

You need heat as a binder. If you heat the saw dust enough it should bind together without adding anything. Thats how they make the wood pellets for pellet stoves. They heat it and then press it through an extrudor. The heat is what binds it together.

 

[066blaster]

i guess it comes down to is it worth the time and effort. looks like your machine works good though.

 

[Cody]

Interesting, could you make them only an inch or so high to be used as a fire starter?

 

[Eric Vogus]

Interesting, could you make them only an inch or so high to be used as a fire starter?

Absolutely. If I where to use them as a fire starter I would have to add some wax or something. These seem to just smolder for a long time. I can light them with a lighter and the flame goes out but then they will smolder till they are completely gone.

 

[Eric Vogus]

i guess it comes down to is it worth the time and effort. looks like your machine works good though.

We have a lot of down time up here due to weather and what not. so drink some beer and press some logs just for something to do...the whole setup was free except the time it took me to modify the machine...

 

[Streblerm]

Looks pretty cool. I bet the hole in the center helps them burn. I looked in to doing something similar either using my shop press or log splitter. I love making something out of what most people consider waste but I don’t have a great supply of raw materials to make them.

I burned some of the commercially available bricks. They cost about like cordwood. They are pressed kind dried hardwood sawdust with no binders. IIRC somewhere it said they used ten tons of pressure to form them. The place that makes them sells hardwood moldings and trim. From their FAQ:

BIO BLOCKS are made of 100% recycled, kiln-dried hardwood sawdust compacted together under high pressure to form a wood briquette. Wood contains lignin, a natural binder under pressure, which means that no additives or chemicals are necessary.

 

[MAD MARK]

Yea the GREN Bio blocks that i burn wish I had a hole in the middle to help in the burning. After ignite they seem to just smolder, albeit no smoke, instead of burn with flame unless there is a bunch in there.

 

[TimberWolf530]

This may be dumb question, but I know nothing about this process. Are you only milling seasoned wood? If you use chips from green wood, does it take longer to season compressed than in log form? Just wondering if that's maybe why it just smolders.

 

[moresnow]

Interesting. My wife works with guy who has a insert. He makes compressed newspaper logs that look just like yours. He sent one home for me to try. Its still sitting here. I had forgot about it until now! Seemed like a good way to plug my Cat? Maybe not. Guessing you will need dry seasoned dust etc. to get the best burn. Kinda of hard to get unless you season your new logs Best of luck.

 

[Eric Vogus]

This may be dumb question, but I know nothing about this process. Are you only milling seasoned wood? If you use chips from green wood, does it take longer to season compressed than in log form? Just wondering if that's maybe why it just smolders.

Not dumb at all. That’s how we learn. I am milling very dry beetle kill spruce. I am just trying stuff I have around. Not sure about any of it. I watched a couple videos had way to much saw dust and said what the heck I will give it a try. I will continue to try different mixes and such.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I wish!
I've taken a day off since August and that was because I was dealing with a kidney stone and there was just no way I could work. Hell could barely even move.

We have a lot of down time up here due to weather and what not. so drink some beer and press some logs just for something to do...the whole setup was free except the time it took me to modify the machine...

 

[KiwiBro]

You know, I've wondered if the briquette tech will advance to the point where we don't ever split our firewood and instead chip whole-tree on the landing and feed a mobile briquette-making plant.

 

[Streblerm]

https://www.alibaba.com/trade/searc...d=&SearchText=Sawdust+block+machine&viewtype=

The technology is here, I think the key is using waste and other biomass rather than cutting trees.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomass_briquettes

 

[KiwiBro]

Last Winter here saw plenty of flood events and what came into sharp focus was the damage that forestry debris does to towns when flood water sweeps through. I wonder if there will be a new law soon saying must harvest whole-tree and deal with the tops/slash, and other waste. Mobile grinder and either shoot the waste back onto the hill, or use it for briquettes.

 

[Eric Vogus]

https://www.alibaba.com/trade/searc...d=&SearchText=Sawdust+block+machine&viewtype=

The technology is here, I think the key is using waste and other biomass rather than cutting trees.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomass_briquettes

I am only cutting the beetle kill from are five acres and making lumber so the sawdust is a bi product I am trying to utilize..along with all my junk mail...

 

[Eric Vogus]

Here is a 5” round 6” long sawdust/junk mail briquette burning from the inside out on a piece of steel outside. At the point the pic was taken the log had been burning in its own for about 1 hour. Hot enough to warm your hands right up at 17*’s Fahrenheit. Still burning I will see how long. Still has another 4 or 5 inches left in length.UPDATE. last pic after 2.5hrs. Still producing heat