Papercreters: [papercreters] Re: New one in Peru -South America-

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

[papercreters] Re: New one in Peru -South America-

Dear Countryatheartok,

That is a great name!
Certainly I am trying to minimize the use of newsprint.

It is known to me that A4 size magazines use superior strength newsprint and therefore form a much better base for papercrete.
They also resell at a per kilo rate that is half of old newsprint. They are the first replacement that I will pursue.
One reported problem with their use is that the spine contains whit adhesive glue that is waterproof and will need to be removed before pulping the magazines.
Similarly metal staples need to be removed.

Used Cardboard boxes of varying strength are readily available in the reused market. They provide good pulp replacement for newsprint.

Rice and Wheat straws that are available after harvesting of the main crop are another cheap source of wood fibre.However without experimentation, it is not possible to say what sort of strength is obtained when newsprint is partly replaced by them.

A material that has not been discussed in any great details in this forum is rice hull. All by itself and cement, the resulting mix crumbles quite easily. How it will behave when mixed with newsprint is yet to be tried out.It has other properties that excite me to try it out.

Regards
Ashok

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "countryatheartok" <criswells.ok@...> wrote:
>
>
> If possible do not use Newspaper because of it resale value, surely
> there are places that pay to have their paper shredded, show them that
> they don't have to pay for that service, that you will soak that paper
> in water and pulp it for free. Also don't produce bricks or blocks,
> pour the walls in place there by saving a lot of time and labor.
> Yesteday I had to cut out a section of wall about 6 inches tall and 12
> inches wide and 12 inches long, to make room for a new window. I had
> never had to cut my mixture before and I've seen demo's on the net as
> how to do it with a chain saw. Well let me tell you my mix must be much
> stronger that the ones I've seen cut on the net, it took me about 20
> minutes and three tries before I got the small section cut out, I was
> shocked at the weight of such a small piece of block, I have not weighed
> it yet but I'll bet that small section will top 20 lbs., and it had been
> dry for a year now. I calculate it takes about 10 gallons of cement to
> pour a 12" tall 8" wide by 12 feet long and that calculates to about
> $10.00 for less that $1.00 per sq ft of wall, can't see how you can get
> much cheaper.
>
> BTB