Papercreters: Re: [papercreters] Hammer mill question [4 Attachments]

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Re: [papercreters] Hammer mill question [4 Attachments]

[Attachment(s) from Donald Miller included below]

I think that if the paper/cardboard were made into too small of pieces you would defintely lose strength. We recently had one of our notorious summer "monsoon" storms that are common in the summer here in SW Arizona. I had two stacks of blocks blow over and the ones that were made with newsprint were much more prone to break than the other stack made with cardboard pulp only, no cement or clay, only cardboard. Also in the rain which accompanied the wind, the cardboard only blocks retained their shape even though some sat in water for a few hours. The cardboard only blocks were dry the next day, but the temperature was 110 so that no doubt helped.

I mix the pulp in a tow mixer and the pulp has a lot of longer pieces in it, no doubt from the heavy boxes that are used to ship produce and meat to out local grocery store. I also squish the strips of plastic that is in the pulp from the boxes into the mix which helps bind them together as well. The plastic strips do help bind everything together, contrary to what some "experts" on this site will tell you. The blocks made only of cardboard pulp are very light and strong and do not absorb any more water than the ones I make with cement or clay.

The store recently went out of business so I'll have to find another source of cardboard, but that's another story.............

--- On Tue, 7/12/11, Ron Richter <ronerichter@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Ron Richter <ronerichter@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [papercreters] Hammer mill question
To: "papercreters@yahoogroups.com" <papercreters@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 11:33 AM
Judith,

Hammer mills pulverize material to a very fine consistency. I would imagine a hammer mill would make paper and cardboard into a fine particulate material similar to the blow-in insulation that Spaceman just showed us in his short video. Hammer mills can be adjusted for the output size but they really are for making powder output.

Pellet mills use hammer mills to prepare the chips or sawdust to an even consistency before sending the raw material through the collets to make the pellets. It may be a very good application for papercrete, although we all talk about the fiber size and the strength afforded a longer fiber. It may make for an easy mix but may suffer in strength.

I'd say get it working and run some test batches with the results. It should be as good and as strong as that which a good tow mixer whips up.

Ron
From: JUDITH WILLIAMS <williams_judith@hotmail.com>
I got this question the other day and have no experience or knowledge of hammer mills. Can anyone here help?

Hello Judith
 
Thank you for taking the time to write me with your thoughts :)
 
If you don't mind would you elaborate on a few ideas i have.?
As to the cardboard, since i posted forum piece i realized i have 
a PTO Hammer Mill here, it hasent been used in along time, but if 
it is operable, would running the cardboard through it to mulch/shred/grind
 it help with the cardboard not being fine enough?
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