You CAN add sawdust to your other composting materials, but I would do it very carefully. Sawdust, as well as any wood fiber, requires a lot of nitrogen to break it down. Applying sawdust like a mulch will draw all of the available nitrogen out of the soil, and the plants growing around it will not be able to compete for the nitrogen they need to thrive. So, if you are going to put sawdust into your composter, make sure you put twice the amount of manure high in nitrogen (chicken being the highest) at the same time.

Inside a composter balance is the key to success. If you are simply looking for a way to recyle sawdust and have a lot of it, I would suggest you simply pile it up in some forgotten corner and let nature do the job slowly. You can add it to a dung heap, too. If you are looking for great compost, made quickly in your ComposTumbler composter, (which is my favorite one), pay attention to the balance of brown to green material. Stockpile them until the right materials are handy before starting your composting in earnest.

I am waiting for the next lawn mowing job with the catcher so I have some green materials to add to my collection of brown material, which I will then mix together in the composter, wet it down and let her work. You do have to pay attention to the moisture level in the composter. I look inside my ComposTumbler every few days just to check on it. Tumble it first, and see how dry it looks. You don't want it soggy, just moist, like a well cooked cake.

The best method for adding water is to sprinkle from a can, or spray from a hose. If water is simply poured or dumped on, you just tumble it real good to get it mixed around. The balance of green/brown material and moisture levels are the same no matter what compost maker (or pile) you use.

You can use sawdust in place of dried leaves or dry dead plants when putting ingrediants together to compost. just keep in mind the type of sawdust, pine can add acid so you may need to balance the ph of the comost. You may also need to add more water since the sawdust if dry will absorb alot of that water. Infact some gardners keep sawdust around just to absorb the extra water they may have added by mistake when mixing their compost. Wood pellets and sawdust bedding for hampters are a good source of sawdust if you don't have a place to get it from.