I'm on the same page as you on the "keeping it simple" philosophy. Where I live in SW Arizona I have 100 % clay for "topsoil" which is not good for gardening but I have found that I can make great blocks with just clay and pulp. I use mostly cardboard for pulp and I really don't use that much clay so the blocks are very light and strong. I quit using sand as I found that it settles in the bottom of the mixer and the blocks are not uniform in weight as the ones made with the first slurry to come out of the mixer are quite a bit heavier than the slurry on the top of the mix. They dry a little slower than blocks with cement added but I found that for some reason the blocks were softer when I use clay and cement together so I just quit using cement. Cheaper that way too. Some of the mixes that people are describing are using as much cement as a concrete mix which of course is not very "green" if one is interested in that angle, (I'm not) but of course the cost goes up accordingly. I let the water drain out of the mix in my forms and then I mush the mix down well which makes a block that does not shrink very much. I have been making a lot of blocks the last month and have around 600 12X16X6" blocks made. I need around 4000 so I have a ways to go but I have enough to start on my house with this fall. The wall will be 16" thick so it should help to offset the intense summer heat which we get four months of here. --- On Tue, 5/18/10, JUDITH WILLIAMS <williams_judith@hotmail.com> wrote:
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