PPB's or Pure Paper Blocks are the most lightweight building product I
have come across. In simple form you just mix paper to a pulp with water,
pour into moulds and let dry. Sounds easy but as with many things the
devil is in the detail, so prctice and experimatation is the key.
1. The Pulp.
I use a horizontal style cement mixer and a thin soupy mix. This allolws
the wood fibers to be teased apart gently. Toss any paper/cardboard whole
into the water, but cardboard will benefit the most from pre soaking. I
piock out the stickytape/plastic from the mix after it has separated.
Once the pulp has no chunks of paper left visible it can be poured into an
old bath or similar vessel for thickening. Thickening is simply a matter
of letting the pulp settle and the excess water run off. A large bucket
works well for smaller amounts. As each batch settles the next one can
gently be poured in to push the excess water out.
2. The Mould.
This is where it gets a little bit harder. A simple brick muold can be
made by building a square from timber and sitting this on a mesh base.
Line the mould with a piece of cloth. More complex designs require more
complex moulds, but the main thing to remember are that you have to allow
water to escape and you have to allow alot of settling room. For example
I use a 4" thick flat mould to make a 1" thick flat panel. A 10" tall
mould will make about a 4" tall brick but it does depend on the thickness
of your pulp.
3. Drying.
Allow the poured mould to drain (over the thicknesser if you want to
recycle the water) for 24hrs. Then set it aside out of the rain to dry.
This can take months for a larger pour, or can be sat near the wood heater
over winter to speed up smaller pours to a few days drying time. As the
block dries it will shrink away from the mould. Once dry to a firm touch
the cloth liner can be peeled off for use in the next mould.
4. Imagination.
This is the key ingredient. As an example of product I have a square
timber mould 24" x 24" x 4". I sit this on a piece of galvanized mesh
with 4" squares. Lay a piece of old bed sheet over the whole thing and
pouir in the pulp. When dry I peel of the cloth to reveal a smooth panel
with a soft squared pattern that makes an intersting wall board panel with
fantastic insulating qualities. It can be nailed, screwed or glued. It
will hold a plaster screw better than plaster. It can be screwed or glued
to a beam made from pulp. It can be sawn (the sawdust from this is a
light fluffy cotton wool like product that is a great fill insulation).
It has good soundproof ability. If you add borax powder it can be made
insect proof, rodent proof and FIRE PROOF!!!!
This may be a little of topic but this is the closest group I have been
able to find for learning and building with pulp.
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