Re: [papercreters] Re: Thoughts needed

I loosely fill a barrel with paper - exact amount depends on the form of the paper. Probably twenty pounds or so of shredded strips will do it, or a foot tall stack of newspaper, etc., of course thrown in loose, not in a stack. With experience you will find the amount that makes a density you like.

Then I take my power spray washer and start washing the paper with a 15 degree tip. Curtis told me that I should be using a zero degree tip, and more better a rotary tip, and I plan to change to another tip as soon as I can get the 15 degree one unstuck from the wand. I managed to get cement into the snap fitting and it doesn't unsnap any more.

After I get a few face fulls of splashback from having the wand at the wrong angle for a certain piece of magazine or book, the mix starts getting up close to the top and most of the paper has turned to pulp. I move the wand up and down and around in the mix to make sure there aren't any large lumps on the bottom or floating around. With ten or so inches of headroom left I toss in three coffee can scoops of cement, maybe 15 pounds. The exact amount varies with the intended use of the papercrete. Now some technique is needed since I don't like getting a face full of portland cement. The cement at this point is a little island in the center of the barrel, and I carefully spray with my tip at the surface, and outside the edge of the island. The undertow from the spray sucks the cement down into the mix without blowing out huge clouds of choking dust. Once the cement is all wet I start the up/down/round motion again to stir in the cement. With good timing the mix is homogeneous just as the barrel gets full and all the paper is pulped.

If I'm using the barrel with the gate valve to dump directly in a form, I just open the valve and let fly. For applications where I'm using a wheelbarrow or bucket to move the mix, I mix in another barrel that has 3/8" holes every six inches around the bottom of the sides, and after it is mixed I let it drain for 1/2 hour or more to reduce the volume and water content. I hate carrying around heavy buckets :(

If you like dirt in your papercrete then it should be easy to mix that in with a hoe. A barrel cut in half lengthwise makes a good trough for that sort of thing. A couple of bricks on each side will prevent it from rolling as you mix.

spaceman

 All opinions expressed or implied are subject to change without notice upon receipt of new information.  http://Starship-Enterprises.Net

On 11/3/2010 1:41 PM, Marilyn Ming wrote:

Spaceman,

 

Please describe what is involved in your process of using a power spray washer and a barrel.  Thanks

 

From: papercreters@yahoogroups.com [mailto:papercreters@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Spaceman
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 12:02 PM
To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [papercreters] Re: Thoughts needed

 

 

Slip forming uses very little lumber. The idea is to form a small section, fill it, and then move the form. The form should be large enough to hold a mixer load, and then can be moved for the next load, usually by the time it is mixed. Water onto lower levels is not a problem in my experience, and I'm sure Judith will say the same thing after having built two structures using slip forming. Judith's method is slightly different with forms large enough for a day's work, but still uses relatively little wood.

What you refer to as concerns were not intended in any way to discourage you. I'm still doing papercrete off and on, I was just passing on information about the amount of work involved. Nowadays I mostly mix in a barrel using a power spray washer. That way I can put the barrel anywhere, ideally above the forms, for easy dumping. A full drum weighs close to 500 pounds more or less depending on your mix. While that is not trivial, it's not too hard to deal with. A tow mixer is faster, but this is less work and gives you easy to manage amounts.

spaceman

All opinions expressed or implied

are subject to change without notice

upon receipt of new information.

http://Starship-Enterprises.Net

On 11/3/2010 11:28 AM, Teresa P wrote:

For most of your concerns please see what I just posted in reply to Judith. I did think about doing slip forming but I was concerned with the amount of lumber it would take to make the forms and with the water that would be added on each layer and what it would do to the bottom layers as I was building up..... this is going to be a loooong term project and not something that will be done in a few months. It will have maybe 2 inner walls going the full 50' length I think.

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