Re: [papercreters] Keeping it simple

I like reading about success involving clay.

On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 8:36 AM, Donald Miller <donald1miller@yahoo.com> wrote:

 

Well, I guess that I'm not very scientific about this, but  one of the great things about papercrete/paper adobe is that the mix doesn't have to be exact to work. I have a 160 gallon mixer and I fill it with soaked cardboard and then fill it with water. After I tow it enough to get the cardboard fairly well cut up I add 15 shovels of clay to that. This is a standard  shovel about 10 inches wide. I know there's a technichal term for this kind of shovel but it eludes me at the moment and it's really not important anyway. I tow this till everything gets pulped down to a small size and then pour it into my forms which are 2X6X8' long divided into 12"X16" partitions. I get 18 blocks from this mix if I get enough cardboard in the mixer. I usually end up a block or two short as it's hard to determine the exact amount of cardboard to put in the mix. Usually I add more after the first batch has cut up some but I rarely end up with 18 blocks. Again this doesn't matter anyway. I stake  down plastic tarps and put my forms on them and let the mix drain for a few minutes while I wash out the mixer and that lets me get a good block with out too much shrinkage. With the clay soil here one needs something like this to keep from getting mired down in the mud so to speak.   --- On Wed, 5/19/10, Greg House <ghunicycle@yahoo.com> wrote: wi From: Greg House <ghunicycle@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [papercreters] Keeping it simple To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com Date: Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 8:06 AM   >From: Donald Miller <donald1miller@yahoo.com> >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. What's your ratio of paper to clay? Greg

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