I kind-of got my recipe from message 7146
The following quote is from Clair from the above message:
"Hi Bob our blocks are 12x14x6-we are using 7 gal mix .We are just doing small mixes in a barrel so we mixed 10 lbs paper 15lbs portland and 2lbs manifactured fines (sand)-20 gal water.We had problems with uniformity ,we needed more holes in the compresssion area and seems to be fine now."
That information came from Clair up in Alaska. If you divide that by 1/2 it comes out to
- 5 lbs paper (dry I guess)
- 7.5 lbs portland cement (that a little over a gallon)
- 1 lb sand (ok I missed that by a mile)
- 10 gal water (I think I can even get by with 5 gal or less)
I think the new recipe will be better and not weigh so much, it should come out to be about 4"hx12"wx16" long, Clair said her 12"wx14"lx6"h weights about 12.5 lbs, I can live with that, I mix in a 8 gal container where she uses a barrel (I guess 55 gal size), I soak my paper/cardboard in a 20 gal container and then move the pulp to the 8 gal container.
The reason I'm cutting her recipe in half is because of the way I pulp my shredded office paper/cardboard and then move the pulp into another mixer and add the cement and sand. I think the sand is what was giving me so much weight, it would also make the blocks more fire proof and also doesn't soak up water so bad. As a matter of fact I took some scrap pieces that had dried and tried to re-pulp them with more pulp and they would not break down nor soak up water. (I havn't figured that one out yet). I had to take the pieces (they had been soaking for 48 hrs) out of the pulp because they just would not break down.
Bob
--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "slurryguy" <slurryguy@...> wrote:
Wow.
I'm not sure where to draw the line semantically, but it seems appropriate to ask the question: Are you making papercrete or are you making concrete mortar with a paper additive?
The mix you are describing may be the most dense, mineral-rich mix I've ever heard about. I'm not surprised that it is heavy.
I'm glad you posted about your efforts.
A couple of comments:
Most of the recipes people have discussed have a ratio of dry cement to DRY paper of as low as 1-2, or as high as 2-1, perhaps as high as 4-1 by weight. NOT VOLUME. Your ratio by dry weight might be 10-1 or higher. With such a low paper content, I'm not surprised that you have observed no shrinkage. Your blocks aren't "drying" they are chemically curing and locking all the water inside the brick.
I'm curious what your are trying to accomplish? What are you planning on using the final product for? I can tell you right now, you won't get much insulation factor from the mixes you are trying, but perhaps that's not important to you.
I'm not trying to discourage you from experimenting with any recipe you want to. In fact, I'm intrigued to see where you are headed. Please keep us informed no matter what. This might be fun to watch.
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