I've experminted with cardboard in this way, when dry it does shrink away from the form and it becomes very hard, I think there must be a glue present in cardboard that does this, that is why cardboard is differnt than paper. The problem I have with using it is the drying time, you have to have the patients of Job, I can't remember how much time elasped from the time I poured my first mold and when I was finally able to remove it, I was using a latex mold. The final product was very hard once I was able to remove it, but I gave up the idea of using it to produce my product because of the looooooooooooong drying time. I first discoverd the possibility of using card board when I tried using a cement mixer to pulp cardboard boxes, the first batch I poured on the ground where grass was growing (it dryed fairly quickly I guess the earth sucked the water out) to see what would happen to it, well to my surprise when dry, it became very hard, so hard grass could not even grow through it the first year and it went through the winter covered with snow and was still somewhat hard next spring, the next year grass started to grow through it just a little, the next year the whole pour became like cow manure, it had the same texture and was not hard at all. This is when I decided to pour it in molds and use only inside, except when I decovered PC I gave up the idea due to the drying time difference, my PC dries overnight this time of year, I am at present making stones and boulders with it, the stones will be used for house siding (I am using a very rich mixture 3:1, and the cost of the stones is about .07 each, I pour them in a 2 ft sq mold and that amount cost about .63 for the 2x2 sq ft or 9 stones) the boulders will be used in my garden. I am paying $9.79 for a 94 lb bag of Portland Cement I can produce about 135 stones from this bag. I have bought Concrete stones and they cost about $7.00 per sq ft. that would be about $14.00 for one of my 2x2's that cost .63 cents.
Why would anybody want to do it any other way?
Bob
--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "Wayne" <huon@...> wrote:
>
> 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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