Does keeping pots of sawdust make sense?

[Cody Colston]

Agreed - in my defense (a) I don't claim to do fine woodwork; and (b) the holes I filled with the stuff are not likely to be seen by anyone else. However, you bring up a good ethical point: when is good enough, good enough?

A genuinely talented woodworker I used to consider a friend once expressed his opinion to me that what the customer doesn't see, doesn't matter. His stuff looks great, but if you take it apart you'll see him taking every possible shortcut and cheapout. I think his approach dishonest, but forgive myself for using sawdust/glue filler where really I should be making custom dowling and slicing it, so I don't know if I'm holier than he, or just more of a hypocrite.

I don't claim to do fine woodworking, either, but I do the best I can do. There are usually (always?) mistakes made. Some of them can and should be repaired. Deciding whether a mistake can be successfully repaired is always a personal decision. Even if the end user cannot see arepair that isn't compatable with good craftsmanship, I know it's there. I have done the glue/sawdust thing in the past but as I've progressed with my woodworking, my standards have risen.

BTW, I think your former friend is being dishonest, too...to his customers and himself. I can understand the need to make a living as a woodworker but one compromise leads to another and eventually, the result is not even good, much less fine craft.

[Scott Perkins47]

Save your milk cartons and smaller plastic bottles and jars then mix your sawdust with
oil and or melted wax for fire starters. If with oil of course jars with lids. The melted
wax starters can be put into muffin tins as they cool and will become fire starter muffins.

[rudy de haas]

Save your milk cartons and smaller plastic bottles and jars then mix your sawdust with
oil and or melted wax for fire starters. If with oil of course jars with lids. The melted
wax starters can be put into muffin tins as they cool and will become fire starter muffins.

I there's someone at your local farmer's market who sells BBQ steaks, that person may be able to sell your muffins as briguet starters. Much safer than fluid and probably more appealing to the urban customer.

[Jim Finn]

I toss my sawdust but I do keep about ten jars full of sanding powder from different woods. I mix it with white glue to fill cracks and very small voids. Sawdust is way to coarse for this but the powder from our sanders works well.

[Mel Fulks]

Yes, keeping pot in saw dust could be a good idea ,especially with acrid woods like WRC.

[Biff Phillips]

Agreed - in my defense (a) I don't claim to do fine woodwork; and (b) the holes I filled with the stuff are not likely to be seen by anyone else. However, you bring up a good ethical point: when is good enough, good enough?

A genuinely talented woodworker I used to consider a friend once expressed his opinion to me that what the customer doesn't see, doesn't matter. His stuff looks great, but if you take it apart you'll see him taking every possible shortcut and cheapout. I think his approach dishonest, but forgive myself for using sawdust/glue filler where really I should be making custom dowling and slicing it, so I don't know if I'm holier than he, or just more of a hypocrite.

It all depends. I don't necessarily think your friend is dishonest.
Here is an example.. He is tasked with making a small base cabinet out of plywood. The inside will not be seen.
Most customers are not going to care if the inside is pocked screwed together, especially if that results in a cheaper price for them.
And the result is probably something that is still going to outlast the cheap junk they could have bought at a big box store.

Now obviously, if a builder tells the buyer that the drawers are hand cut dovetails, but they were not, that is dishonest.
If the builder just says the drawers are dovetailed, but uses a machine, that is still honest.

Point is, everyone has a different definition of what fine woodworking is and what they are willing to pay for.
Maybe your friend needs to take every shortcut in order to stay at a competitive price point. As long as he doesn't lie about it, no big deal really.

I have had people ask me to build them custom furniture. Usually all I have to do is tell them how much the wood costs (which is more than $50 they had in mind) and then they suddenly lose interest, which is what I want to happen .

[Brad Barnhart]

I agree. There's a fine line between a woodworker & a "fine woodworker." If you look at it from a reality point of view, IMO, there is no "perfect project." I have a friend who's been building & installing his own cabinets for over 40 years. I've seen him make mistakes that blew my mind, but by the time he was done with the job, you wouldn't even know he had a screw up. Some of his ways are, shall we say, behind the times, but they work for him.

I don't consider myself a fine woodworker by no means. I'm a self taught retired truck driver that took up woodworking over 20 years ago as a stress reliever. I've read every book I could that pertained to what I wanted to do. And started making customized firewood from there. Now I can repair my mistakes in my projects to the point, I'm the only one that knows they're there. My customers are happy with the work, & so far, I've not had any comebacks. And I keep a few containers of dust from sanders, & use it.

I think woodworking takes a lot more than fancy tools. A dimensional mind, creative thinking, craftsmanship, the ability to put your hands to work by the creation in your mind. Its a lot more than fixing minor screw ups with sawdust & glue.