Looking for ideas to make a sawdust log press

[930dreamer]

Good evening GJ,

My shop is next door to a cabinet shop, with that said it produces a ton of scrap oak that I burn in the shop woodstove. It also has an industrial dust collector in which I'd like to make some sawdust logs. I've been searching YouTube etc. for a design to use.

Some designs are to mix sawdust with water and use a hydraulic press or an air ram to compress the mix. Another goes through a die of some sort and burns the outside. I made a few fire starter discs with sawdust and wax using a hydraulic press, it worked well.

This fellows design works well but not sure if I want to make a slurry, is there enough natural resin in wood for a binder i.e. dry press?

Would an air cylinder have enough force or would I need hydraulic pressure?

 

[pdangerp]

Maybe make wood pellets for pellet stove or smoker. There are machines that do that.

 

[Steevo]

I don't think you will be able to make sawdust logs without a binder of some kind.
Maybe get one of those cheap, plastic barrel cement mixers and use a pump sprayer to mist the mix as it tumbles, using a water-based solution?
I think then you'll need to use a hydraulic ram/press to compress them in a cylinder that you can eject them from after compressing.
Kind of like a log splitter with a piston instead of a push block, and a thick-wall steel cylinder you can tilt up to fill, then lay down to run the ram into it, and some kind of removable plate for the bottom of the cylinder, so you can remove it, and push the log out using the ram.

 

[930dreamer]

A machine shop down the street sold their building and moved ALL the contents into three buildings next door from me. There's a large selection of steel sitting outside to ponder building this out of.

 

[Deej-79]

I'm interested in this as well, I've got about 10 gallons of sawdust in the garage and will setup a dust collector once I get my shop together.

 

[jabberwoki]

I agree with Steevo hydraulic press and a metal cylinder and you`ve got wood sausage!!

 

[Provincial]

I used to feed a sawdust burning furnace when I was a kid. Sawdust burns fine, you just have to feed it often. We had a conveyer device and I just had to keep the hopper from running dry.

When we wrecked out the building, I found the cast iron grates from when the furnace burned wood. The sawdust system was a retrofit. Sawdust was cheap before they realized it made good pulp for paper.

 

[MoonRise]

Without either the addition of some sort of resin binder (like wax), or via processing with heat, steam, and pressure (and thus utilizing the naturally occurring lignin in the original wood as the resin binder), you really can't compress some sawdust and have it (reliably) retain the 'pressed' shape.

Or you could use water and mix and process a sawdust-water slurry (industrial blender!) and then press that. Which is pretty much paper making and then turning the pulp into a different shape than a sheet of paper.

 

[PugetDude]

Pressure+Heat=Prestologs.

Cost to generate enough of both will probably exceed your anticipated payback in heat savings.

 

[kkroger]

You can make a fire starter with paraffin and sawdust... burns long to get wood started.
We used to make them in a paper egg carton. Make a mould with a thick wall steel pipe split with a set of alternating rings down the sides with pins and a disk welded to half the mould... Under pressure the sawdust MAY stick together... Otherwise adding something to the mix to hold it together press it into the mould then you can pull the pins out and separate the halves after it dries... You can line the mould with waxtex or butcher paper to make release easier....

 

[Capt Chrysler]

Saw dust mixed with wet shredded paper works. Google and YouTube are your friends.

Capt. Chrysler

 

[The Cobbler]

what about a mixture of wallpaper paste ( if you can still buy it) or watered down carpenters glue . of course you would have to let the logs dry out

 

[racingtadpole]

Saw dust mixed with wet shredded paper works. Google and YouTube are your friends.

Capt. Chrysler

This was how i made my starter logs when I had a combustion heater. I had about a dozen steel pipes with a cap for the bottom end that was serrated around the circumference to let the water escape. The top was just a disc that fitted neatly inside the tube. Force came from a G Clamp. Took about a week of tightening it to squeeze the water out. enough for it to hold shape. Then I would leave them on a cake rack to dry for a further 2 weeks.

 

[930dreamer]

I have enough sawdust for around 10-15K logs.

 

[PugetDude]

From the North Idaho Energy Logs Website:

North Idaho Energy Logs are the only manufactured logs that have stood the test of time. The Log Machines that we use were developed in the 1930's and have been retooled with modern technology while making use of the time proven machines.

Each energy log is compressed under the intense pressure of 20,000 pounds per square inch with no chemicals or binders. They have an extremely high combustion and low moisture content (6%-7%) resulting in a clean hot fire that is better for you and the environment. Energy Logs have a compact size of only 13" long and 4" in diameter making them easier to handle and store than firewood. For over 80 years these logs have been the best choice for radiant wood heat.

http://www.northidahoenergylogs.com/

 

[sberry]

I'm interested in this as well, I've got about 10 gallons of sawdust in the garage and will setup a dust collector once I get my shop together.

How much heat you figure 10 gallons of sawdust would make?

 

[Capt Chrysler]

How much heat you figure 10 gallons of sawdust would make?

I think you will sweat more making the 10 gallons into something, than the heat gain burning it.

Capt. Chrysler

 

[Bondo]

I think you will sweat more making the 10 gallons into something, than the heat gain burning it.

Capt. Chrysler

Ayuh,.... One of the many joys of burnin' wood for heat,....

It "Warms" ya several times, Before ya burn it,......

 

[E.rodz]

you could find a used plastic extrusion machine to turn it into wood pellets. or use a portable log splitter for making the logs if your needs are set in stone..or just use a corn burner with a supply auger to just feed the sawdust in and just use it that way it will need to be a corn burner because it needs a mixing auger in the burn box otherwise it will clump up .a pellet stove does not have that option but can be converted.

 

[Capt Chrysler]

Capt. Chrysler

 

[dutchgray]

So you already have the waste oak to burn, why the hell would you want to mess around with the saw dust? A local firm near me used to make logs from their saw dust but had to stop after some exploded in stoves. More hassle than its worth IMO.
Any process that uses water as a binder is a waste of time as you then have to get it back out before you can burn it.

 

[dr_clyde]

To me, this is one of those times where it seems like a good idea and will save you money, but at best you may break even. Unless you also happen to have a surplus of time and are willing to sink a few grand into getting a machine that works reliably, I would pass on the sawdust. I can't see this saving you money unless you can make it pay back over like 10 years.

However, if you're into the challenge, and want to do it just because you can, I can appreciate that. I would look into a hopper fed, heated dry press. I wouldn't screw with water as a binder, that's an immediate loss of energy because you have to get it back out. I would also shy away from wax or other petroleum products for safety reasons. You're probably looking at a 50 ton press, minimum, with a heated compression chamber to take advantage of any remaining sap or resin. If you have to add a binder, I would look at a tote of corn syrup or some other plant based liquid that has burnable energy. Either way, this would need to net you heat for at least a decade to pay for itself.