Its amazing how all we human beings think alike! I was searching around on the net to see if I could find something about ICC experimental acceptance of papercrete, when I found the message below posted on an Adobe Group site in 2001. I have never seen this information before and last year I did the exact same thing to make papercrete blocks. And to bet, all unclejoe(okla) is a member of that site also as well as this site. Itfs really a small world.
http://quentinwilson.squarespace.com/storage/adobecode.pdf
From: Leonard Jones Monday, November 26, 2001 10:13 PM
OK, folks, here's how I built my block press... Total cost was ~ $225
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Shop press 12 T - new cost $119.95
Air/hydraulic jack 12T - new on sale 79.95
Scrap channel iron plus nuts, bolts,
welding rod, etc. for mold box 25.00
Total cost ~ $225.00
Could have done it for less. I know I could have found a used shop press for substantially less than than the $119.95 I paid... or, I could have welded/bolted together an equivalent frame out of a few bucks worth of scrap angle and/or channel iron... As a bonus, I also have the 12T hydraulic jack that came with the shop press. I'm gonna use it around my place - but I could probably sell it for $15-20 and reduce the cost of the block press by a few more $ I'm using my existing 3HP shop compressor to power the press - it's a little slow, but the only required effort for pressing is holding the air valve open. I could, I suppose, operate the press manually with the manual hydraulic jack - but that would be REALLY slow... As it is, I have to load the soil mix into the press manually and remove/stack the finished blocks by hand. Which is laborious enough. For a few hundred $ more, I could mechanize the loading of soil into the mold box and install a used air ram and some roller conveyor to remove the blocks. This, along with a bigger compressed air supply, would greatly increase production. But right now - I'm getting the same kind of production as a manual press with a lot less effort. Which suits me fine at present... I think a poor person with lots of time on his/her hands might be best served by using traditional adobes - which can take advantage of a large amount of "free" labor... But - - part of the time could be easily spent scrounging around for the parts and labor to make this press - or an equivalent cinva ram manual model - something like Paul describes below. Which you could sell at the end of your project - or go into business making blocks for someone else... or whatever...If you can somehow come up with a small lot to build your house on - and you can economize all round and maximize the use of your own labor, I think it's entirely possible to build a minimalistic earthen house (2 rooms + a bath) for a very modest amount. Not ready yet to say just how much... It wouldn't be the Ritz, but it would sure beat the Hell out of sleeping in a cardboard box stuffed with newspapers out under a bridge along the So. Platte River here in Denver like some folks will be doing tonight... (expected low ~0 deg F!!) . The future belongs to the creative...!!
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