That is exactly why I use the proven 3-2-1 measurement, this is the standard for concrete workers, that is three aggregate, (in our case paperpulp) two sand, (or in my case two clay or one clay and one sand) and one cement, and just enough water to get the mix going, (I almost never add more water to the wet paper pulp) I always put the three parts, just barely wet paper pulp into my electric mixer, I then add the one part dry cement, mix until I can't see any paper pulp, then I add the two parts clay or clay and sand, if this is too dry I may add just enough water to get the mix to plopping, when it starts sounding like that I know its ready to dump into my wheelbarrow and transport to the forms. I get a really strong mix this way, and if it is poured in the evening, by morning I can knock , like knocking on a door, and it sounds solid. I've tried other formulas and I can't say the same for any of them. I can also say the stones I've made I left out on the grass just to see what would happen after rain...etc, I can report that the ones that I used the above formula were still solid after a good soaking rain, but the others did not fair as well and I even saw termites coming out of the backs of a couple of them that were laying on cardboard. They might have only been after the cardboard but they were in the mostly paper and a very small amount of cement, or mostly paper and just clay and no cement, ones, the paper and clay one did very poorly, it even started coming apart when I picked it up and droped it on the ground, I would not even consider building anything out of that formula. It was just paper and clay, no cardboard or cement. Even using the 3-2-1 formula I still get off cheap, because the only thing I have to buy is the cement, (I also bought my clay but I didn't have to, I could have just kept digging up my yard, it was working just as well but was making a mess of my yard, and I don't have to use clay at all, sand alone works just as good, just don't get that nice color that clay adds). The sand and paper is free also.
Bob the builder
--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "doris" <dorisburton03@...> wrote:
Everybody has their favorite additives.
The most important variable is how much cement and how little water. The most cement and the least water makes the strongest mix.
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