[papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix design

Joy I will have to differ with you on the run off. After I have poured
my PC and it does not make any difference what formula I am using, "
i.e. clay, sand additions of just paper and cement." The run off is
always the same, just clear or almost clear water. I have never seen
cement or clay colored water leave my PC. It always amazes me that it
does that. I have worked with concrete for many years if if you get too
much water in the mix the run off is is cement colored, but not with PC,
and I always start with soaked wet paper pulp then add the cement and
mix well and then if I want any other additives I add them last.

BOB

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, Joy Pickens <lilyklink@...> wrote:
>
> Great wrap up Judith, and Johan, thanks for the tech details. On the
chance of
> being redundant, I will back what Johan says, try to use the least
amount of
> water you can and not have to drain any away, at least after the
cement has been
> added, cuz everything that drains off after the cement has been added
is the
> strength of your finished product being compromised and running off as
waste, I
> mean anyone can see that the runnoff is NOT pure water.
>
> Joy in OK
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: JUDITH WILLIAMS williams_judith@...
> To: papercreters papercreters papercreters@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Fri, June 3, 2011 9:25:38 AM
> Subject: RE: [papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix design
>
> Â
> I appreciate this reasonable and clear explanation of the use of
cement in
> papercrete. I have to admit I haven't carefully read the technical
things that
> have appeared here. My eyes tend to glaze over at such things,
although I admit
> the information may be interesting (?). Anyway, I look at mixing
papercrete
> like making bread. If you have the basic things that make it what it
is then you
> can add and experiment all you want. Maybe it was here that you saw
cellulose
> insulation added to the mixer. It was quick and easy but would get
expensive if
> used all the time.
>
>
> At the risk of being redundant I must repeat - the beauty of
papercrete is it's
> elemental simplicity and inexpensiveness. For an $11 investment for a
bag of
> cement I can have a good portion of a wall. If I can't get cement or
can't
> afford it I can use clay soil. If can't get newspapers I can use
cardboard or
> junk mail from the post office.
>
>
>
> Follow progress on the new project at
http://www.papercretebyjudith.com/blog
>
> More papercrete info at http://squidoo.com/papercretebyjudith
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
> From: Spaceman@...
> Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2011 07:40:44 -0600
> Subject: Re: [papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix design
>
> Â
> That was a nice question when it was asked (and answered) four years
ago. There
> are many papercrete mixes depending on how the papercrete is to be
used, and the
> preferences of the person mixing. Many recipes are in the archives and
the files
> section. Folks have experimented with lime and with fly ash (slag)
with
> seemingly good results but afaik no testing has been done to determine
what
> effect, if any, these have on the final papercrete strength and
durability.
>
> Periodically we seem to get concrete folks on here who proceed to tell
us how we
> are doing it all wrong and you can't mix concrete like we do. Well,
the thing is
> that papercrete is NOT concrete and they are not very similar.
Papercrete often
> is used in a liquid state, thin enough to pump, and has no slump at
all. With
> concrete the amount of water is absolutely critical to the final
strength of the
> concrete. That does not apply to papercrete.
>
>
> Most often it is the mixer that is pulping the paper in a water bath.
You have
> to use enough water to mix, and then the bulk of the water is drained
off. The
> mixing methods used for concrete do not apply here. I have only seen
expensive
> cellulose insulation (dry fiber) used for papercrete once, and it was
simply
> dumped into the mixer along with water, cement, pumice, etc., and all
were mixed
> together. Normally this wet mix is put into forms or molds where the
extra water
> rapidly drains away, leaving a soft material that will finally develop
some
> firmness after a few minutes of draining. Molds can often be removed
within a
> few minutes of filling. Depending on the thickness, the mix, the
temperature,
> the wind, this material may take days or weeks to dry out and become
hard.
>
> A few weeks ago I looked at trying some cellulose insulation in a
concrete mixer
> but backed off when I realized the final product would cost more than
$10 a
> cubic foot. Not to mention that buying a product like that would
negate the
> green/recycling aspect of using paper destined for the landfill. If
there were a
> cheap source of pulverized paper then it would be possible to mix with
less
> water, but exact ratios could be thrown off by humidity since paper
absorbs
> moisture well. There might be a wide range of water content that would
be
> mixable since the fibers are absorbent. I think papercrete mixes are
like
> cooking - recipes are a starting guide but need to be adjusted for
real
> conditions.
>
>
>
> spaceman
>
> All opinions expressed or implied
> are subject to change without notice
> upon receipt of new information.
>
> http://Starship-Enterprises.Net blog at
> http://Starship-Enterprises.Net/wordpress/
> On 6/3/2011 5:59 AM, Johan wrote:
> Hi everybody, nice question folks. A good method in concrete
mixing to obtain
> consistency is the slump test whereby a prismatic shape tin container
without a
> bottom is filled with the concrete/pc mix. The tin is then
removed upwards and
> the height of the material that it has slumped to is measured.Â
This is then
> recorded and compared to the height of the tin as a percentage
including the
> details of this particular mix i.e. cement type and brand and possible
batch #
> in one column with amount used by volume or weight. The next
column contains
> type of sand/paper used and preferably weighed dry. Record the
amount of water
> used because too much water weakens the strength of the concrete/pc.
 I have the
> details somewhere and will post it as soon as I have found it, but the
point is
> that even if there is no current standards for pc you can record your
own slump
> heights results for own use. The point of the exercise is to
obtain consistency
> and being able to record your experiments with various mixes for
different
> applications.
> >Just another point of interest is that the addition of slaked lime
(not
> >agricultural lime) will give the mix a nice buttery working
consistency and it
> >will strengthen the material more over a longer period after the
cement has
> >reached it full strength.Â
> >
> >Slag cement also increases strength after Portland cement has stopped
but for
> >all these additives you must remember it does not reach its maximum
strength as
> >fast as when you did not use it. Â It needs time as in years to
develop full
> >strength.
> >When concrete is mixed in a drum mixer, the stone is added first,
then follows
> >some of the measured amount of water just to coat the stone followed
by the
> >cement and then only the sand and final water left over. I would
assume that
> >the dry paper is shredded first followed by some water, then the
cement followed
> >by final water allocated for the mix. Please inform me if it is
different.Â
> >Finally I apologies for any incorrect English since it is not my home
language.
> >Regards
> >Johan Van Tonder
> >Â
> >
> >Â
> >
> >
>

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Re: [papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix design

Great wrap up Judith, and Johan, thanks for the tech details. On the chance of being redundant, I will back what Johan says, try to use the least amount of water you can and not have to drain any away, at least after the cement has been added, cuz everything that drains off after the cement has been added is the strength of your finished product being compromised and running off as waste, I mean anyone can see that the runnoff is NOT pure water.

 

Joy in OK

---

From: JUDITH WILLIAMS <williams_judith@hotmail.com>
To: papercreters papercreters <papercreters@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Fri, June 3, 2011 9:25:38 AM
Subject: RE: [papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix design

 

I appreciate this reasonable and clear explanation of the use of cement in papercrete. I have to admit I haven't carefully read the technical things that have appeared here. My eyes tend to glaze over at such things, although I admit the information may be interesting (?). Anyway,  I look at mixing papercrete like making bread. If you have the basic things that make it what it is then you can add and experiment all you want. Maybe it was here that you saw cellulose insulation added to the mixer. It was quick and easy but would get expensive if used all the time.

At the risk of being redundant I must repeat - the beauty of papercrete is it's elemental simplicity and inexpensiveness. For an $11 investment for a bag of cement I can have a good portion of a wall. If I can't get cement or can't afford it I can use clay soil. If  can't get newspapers I can use cardboard or junk mail from the post office.



Follow progress on the new project at http://www.papercretebyjudith.com/blog

More papercrete info at http://squidoo.com/papercretebyjudith

---

To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
From: Spaceman@starship-enterprises.net
Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2011 07:40:44 -0600
Subject: Re: [papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix design

 

That was a nice question when it was asked (and answered) four years ago. There are many papercrete mixes depending on how the papercrete is to be used, and the preferences of the person mixing. Many recipes are in the archives and the files section. Folks have experimented with lime and with fly ash (slag) with seemingly good results but afaik no testing has been done to determine what effect, if any, these have on the final papercrete strength and durability.

Periodically we seem to get concrete folks on here who proceed to tell us how we are doing it all wrong and you can't mix concrete like we do. Well, the thing is that papercrete is NOT concrete and they are not very similar. Papercrete often is used in a liquid state, thin enough to pump, and has no slump at all. With concrete the amount of water is absolutely critical to the final strength of the concrete. That does not apply to papercrete.

Most often it is the mixer that is pulping the paper in a water bath. You have to use enough water to mix, and then the bulk of the water is drained off. The mixing methods used for concrete do not apply here. I have only seen expensive cellulose insulation (dry fiber) used for papercrete once, and it was simply dumped into the mixer along with water, cement, pumice, etc., and all were mixed together. Normally this wet mix is put into forms or molds where the extra water rapidly drains away, leaving a soft material that will finally develop some firmness after a few minutes of draining. Molds can often be removed within a few minutes of filling. Depending on the thickness, the mix, the temperature, the wind, this material may take days or weeks to dry out and become hard.

A few weeks ago I looked at trying some cellulose insulation in a concrete mixer but backed off when I realized the final product would cost more than $10 a cubic foot. Not to mention that buying a product like that would negate the green/recycling aspect of using paper destined for the landfill. If there were a cheap source of pulverized paper then it would be possible to mix with less water, but exact ratios could be thrown off by humidity since paper absorbs moisture well. There might be a wide range of water content that would be mixable since the fibers are absorbent. I think papercrete mixes are like cooking - recipes are a starting guide but need to be adjusted for real conditions.

spaceman

All opinions expressed or implied
are subject to change without notice
upon receipt of new information.

http://Starship-Enterprises.Net blog at http://Starship-Enterprises.Net/wordpress/

On 6/3/2011 5:59 AM, Johan wrote:

Hi everybody, nice question folks.  A good method in concrete mixing to obtain consistency is the slump test whereby a prismatic shape tin container without a bottom is filled with the concrete/pc mix.  The tin is then removed upwards and the height of the material that it has slumped to is measured.  This is then recorded and compared to the height of the tin as a percentage including the details of this particular mix i.e. cement type and brand and possible batch # in one column with amount used by volume or weight.  The next column contains type of sand/paper used and preferably weighed dry.  Record the amount of water used because too much water weakens the strength of the concrete/pc.  I have the details somewhere and will post it as soon as I have found it, but the point is that even if there is no current standards for pc you can record your own slump heights results for own use.  The point of the exercise is to obtain consistency and being able to record your experiments with various mixes for different applications.

Just another point of interest is that the addition of slaked lime (not agricultural lime) will give the mix a nice buttery working consistency and it will strengthen the material more over a longer period after the cement has reached it full strength. 

Slag cement also increases strength after Portland cement has stopped but for all these additives you must remember it does not reach its maximum strength as fast as when you did not use it.  It needs time as in years to develop full strength.

When concrete is mixed in a drum mixer, the stone is added first, then follows some of the measured amount of water just to coat the stone followed by the cement and then only the sand and final water left over.  I would assume that the dry paper is shredded first followed by some water, then the cement followed by final water allocated for the mix.  Please inform me if it is different.  Finally I apologies for any incorrect English since it is not my home language.

Regards

Johan Van Tonder

 

 

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I appreciate this reasonable and clear explanation of the use of cement in papercrete. I have to admit I haven't carefully read the technical things that have appeared here. My eyes tend to glaze over at such things, although I admit the information may be interesting (?). Anyway,  I look at mixing papercrete like making bread. If you have the basic things that make it what it is then you can add and experiment all you want. Maybe it was here that you saw cellulose insulation added to the mixer. It was quick and easy but would get expensive if used all the time.

At the risk of being redundant I must repeat - the beauty of papercrete is it's elemental simplicity and inexpensiveness. For an $11 investment for a bag of cement I can have a good portion of a wall. If I can't get cement or can't afford it I can use clay soil. If  can't get newspapers I can use cardboard or junk mail from the post office.



Follow progress on the new project at http://www.papercretebyjudith.com/blog

More papercrete info at http://squidoo.com/papercretebyjudith

---

To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
From: Spaceman@starship-enterprises.net
Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2011 07:40:44 -0600
Subject: Re: [papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix design

 

That was a nice question when it was asked (and answered) four years ago. There are many papercrete mixes depending on how the papercrete is to be used, and the preferences of the person mixing. Many recipes are in the archives and the files section. Folks have experimented with lime and with fly ash (slag) with seemingly good results but afaik no testing has been done to determine what effect, if any, these have on the final papercrete strength and durability.

Periodically we seem to get concrete folks on here who proceed to tell us how we are doing it all wrong and you can't mix concrete like we do. Well, the thing is that papercrete is NOT concrete and they are not very similar. Papercrete often is used in a liquid state, thin enough to pump, and has no slump at all. With concrete the amount of water is absolutely critical to the final strength of the concrete. That does not apply to papercrete.

Most often it is the mixer that is pulping the paper in a water bath. You have to use enough water to mix, and then the bulk of the water is drained off. The mixing methods used for concrete do not apply here. I have only seen expensive cellulose insulation (dry fiber) used for papercrete once, and it was simply dumped into the mixer along with water, cement, pumice, etc., and all were mixed together. Normally this wet mix is put into forms or molds where the extra water rapidly drains away, leaving a soft material that will finally develop some firmness after a few minutes of draining. Molds can often be removed within a few minutes of filling. Depending on the thickness, the mix, the temperature, the wind, this material may take days or weeks to dry out and become hard.

A few weeks ago I looked at trying some cellulose insulation in a concrete mixer but backed off when I realized the final product would cost more than $10 a cubic foot. Not to mention that buying a product like that would negate the green/recycling aspect of using paper destined for the landfill. If there were a cheap source of pulverized paper then it would be possible to mix with less water, but exact ratios could be thrown off by humidity since paper absorbs moisture well. There might be a wide range of water content that would be mixable since the fibers are absorbent. I think papercrete mixes are like cooking - recipes are a starting guide but need to be adjusted for real conditions.

spaceman

All opinions expressed or implied
are subject to change without notice
upon receipt of new information.

http://Starship-Enterprises.Net blog at http://Starship-Enterprises.Net/wordpress/

On 6/3/2011 5:59 AM, Johan wrote:

Hi everybody, nice question folks.  A good method in concrete mixing to obtain consistency is the slump test whereby a prismatic shape tin container without a bottom is filled with the concrete/pc mix.  The tin is then removed upwards and the height of the material that it has slumped to is measured.  This is then recorded and compared to the height of the tin as a percentage including the details of this particular mix i.e. cement type and brand and possible batch # in one column with amount used by volume or weight.  The next column contains type of sand/paper used and preferably weighed dry.  Record the amount of water used because too much water weakens the strength of the concrete/pc.  I have the details somewhere and will post it as soon as I have found it, but the point is that even if there is no current standards for pc you can record your own slump heights results for own use.  The point of the exercise is to obtain consistency and being able to record your experiments with various mixes for different applications.

Just another point of interest is that the addition of slaked lime (not agricultural lime) will give the mix a nice buttery working consistency and it will strengthen the material more over a longer period after the cement has reached it full strength. 

Slag cement also increases strength after Portland cement has stopped but for all these additives you must remember it does not reach its maximum strength as fast as when you did not use it.  It needs time as in years to develop full strength.

When concrete is mixed in a drum mixer, the stone is added first, then follows some of the measured amount of water just to coat the stone followed by the cement and then only the sand and final water left over.  I would assume that the dry paper is shredded first followed by some water, then the cement followed by final water allocated for the mix.  Please inform me if it is different.  Finally I apologies for any incorrect English since it is not my home language.

Regards

Johan Van Tonder

 

 

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Re: [papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix design

That was a nice question when it was asked (and answered) four years ago. There are many papercrete mixes depending on how the papercrete is to be used, and the preferences of the person mixing. Many recipes are in the archives and the files section. Folks have experimented with lime and with fly ash (slag) with seemingly good results but afaik no testing has been done to determine what effect, if any, these have on the final papercrete strength and durability.

Periodically we seem to get concrete folks on here who proceed to tell us how we are doing it all wrong and you can't mix concrete like we do. Well, the thing is that papercrete is NOT concrete and they are not very similar. Papercrete often is used in a liquid state, thin enough to pump, and has no slump at all. With concrete the amount of water is absolutely critical to the final strength of the concrete. That does not apply to papercrete.

Most often it is the mixer that is pulping the paper in a water bath. You have to use enough water to mix, and then the bulk of the water is drained off. The mixing methods used for concrete do not apply here. I have only seen expensive cellulose insulation (dry fiber) used for papercrete once, and it was simply dumped into the mixer along with water, cement, pumice, etc., and all were mixed together. Normally this wet mix is put into forms or molds where the extra water rapidly drains away, leaving a soft material that will finally develop some firmness after a few minutes of draining. Molds can often be removed within a few minutes of filling. Depending on the thickness, the mix, the temperature, the wind, this material may take days or weeks to dry out and become hard.

A few weeks ago I looked at trying some cellulose insulation in a concrete mixer but backed off when I realized the final product would cost more than $10 a cubic foot. Not to mention that buying a product like that would negate the green/recycling aspect of using paper destined for the landfill. If there were a cheap source of pulverized paper then it would be possible to mix with less water, but exact ratios could be thrown off by humidity since paper absorbs moisture well. There might be a wide range of water content that would be mixable since the fibers are absorbent. I think papercrete mixes are like cooking - recipes are a starting guide but need to be adjusted for real conditions.

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

On 6/3/2011 5:59 AM, Johan wrote:

Hi everybody, nice question folks.  A good method in concrete mixing to obtain consistency is the slump test whereby a prismatic shape tin container without a bottom is filled with the concrete/pc mix.  The tin is then removed upwards and the height of the material that it has slumped to is measured.  This is then recorded and compared to the height of the tin as a percentage including the details of this particular mix i.e. cement type and brand and possible batch # in one column with amount used by volume or weight.  The next column contains type of sand/paper used and preferably weighed dry.  Record the amount of water used because too much water weakens the strength of the concrete/pc.  I have the details somewhere and will post it as soon as I have found it, but the point is that even if there is no current standards for pc you can record your own slump heights results for own use.  The point of the exercise is to obtain consistency and being able to record your experiments with various mixes for different applications.

Just another point of interest is that the addition of slaked lime (not agricultural lime) will give the mix a nice buttery working consistency and it will strengthen the material more over a longer period after the cement has reached it full strength. 

Slag cement also increases strength after Portland cement has stopped but for all these additives you must remember it does not reach its maximum strength as fast as when you did not use it.  It needs time as in years to develop full strength.

When concrete is mixed in a drum mixer, the stone is added first, then follows some of the measured amount of water just to coat the stone followed by the cement and then only the sand and final water left over.  I would assume that the dry paper is shredded first followed by some water, then the cement followed by final water allocated for the mix.  Please inform me if it is different.  Finally I apologies for any incorrect English since it is not my home language.

Regards

Johan Van Tonder

 

 

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Re: [papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix desgn

Johan,
  I haven't heard of anyone doing slump tests with papercrete (not
that it cannot be done, but with enough water to saturate the paper
and the different kinds of paper, I am not it will work as
consistantly as concrete will for test purposes).
Also, with papercrete, larger aggregate (bigger than sand) is normally
not used from what I understand, and since it needs to be a paper
slurry, the paper and initial water are usually the initial things
added to the mix, followed by cement, then sand (if used) and other
additives.  As with all 'crete (con- paper- adobe- dirt-) each
practitioner seems to have their own 'secrete recipe', so there really
are no rules, just guidelines and experience.

I wonder if anyone has done empirical tests on papercrete as to the
effect of water? I know water is very important with concrete and you
need enough to hydrate the cement fully. Since so much is needed to
make a paper slurry, and it becomes
a fairly 'weak concrete' using normal mixes, I would expect that 'to
much' water is available to make the concrete strong.

In concrete there are 'air' entraining additives to reduce the size of
the air bubbles and make the of consistent size. This helps reduce
the need for water and helps with the freeze thaw characteristics (and
with less water to hydrolize the cement or other cementatious
additives (crushed slag or flyash) adds to its strength).

Talking with a friend a few months ago, his company took some cores
from a 75+ year old bridge that was being pulled down for replacement.
They tested the cores and as expected, they keep getting harder for
many years after the concrete is poured. On this bridge it had only
hydrated 75% of the portland cement, so it still had a long way to go
to get to it's ultimate strength. ( Typically 30 day strength is
considered 'full strength' for construction purposes. But concrete
keeps getting harder and harder. After it is initially set, it also
helps concrete to be fully under water to ensure there is enough water
to hydrate the cement. Except for bridge footings, or test samples
that are kept under water to ensure full hydration, it never seems to
happen. )

I like your idea of making sure you use the same units when measuring
(volume or weight). The concrete industry tends to use weight. Small
users (like most of us) tend to use volume just because it is easier
for us. Neither is bad, but consistency is the goal to getting
consistent batches!

I have a professional concrete person friend who mixes things in
different orders (sometimes I think he is just messing with me :) ).
The water before the cement keeps the amount of cement dust floating
around down (a good thing), other than that, any order is OK but you
have to mix it long enough after the last stuff is added to ensure a
homogeneous mixture.

Paper doesn't have to be shredded, but it takes more powerful mixers
to tear paper and make it into a slurry than to take pre-shreaded
paper and make it into the same slurry. To me it makes sense to have
it pre-shreaded if you don't have as strong a mixer just to ensure the
consistantcy we are after.

><> ... Jack
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart... Colossians 3:23

"You don't manage people; you manage things. You lead people."
"It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission" — Grace
Hopper, US Navy Admiral

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RE: [papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix desgn

Hi everybody, nice question folks.  A good method in concrete mixing to obtain consistency is the slump test whereby a prismatic shape tin container without a bottom is filled with the concrete/pc mix.  The tin is then removed upwards and the height of the material that it has slumped to is measured.  This is then recorded and compared to the height of the tin as a percentage including the details of this particular mix i.e. cement type and brand and possible batch # in one column with amount used by volume or weight.  The next column contains type of sand/paper used and preferably weighed dry.  Record the amount of water used because too much water weakens the strength of the concrete/pc.  I have the details somewhere and will post it as soon as I have found it, but the point is that even if there is no current standards for pc you can record your own slump heights results for own use.  The point of the exercise is to obtain consistency and being able to record your experiments with various mixes for different applications.

Just another point of interest is that the addition of slaked lime (not agricultural lime) will give the mix a nice buttery working consistency and it will strengthen the material more over a longer period after the cement has reached it full strength. 

Slag cement also increases strength after Portland cement has stopped but for all these additives you must remember it does not reach its maximum strength as fast as when you did not use it.  It needs time as in years to develop full strength.

When concrete is mixed in a drum mixer, the stone is added first, then follows some of the measured amount of water just to coat the stone followed by the cement and then only the sand and final water left over.  I would assume that the dry paper is shredded first followed by some water, then the cement followed by final water allocated for the mix.  Please inform me if it is different.  Finally I apologies for any incorrect English since it is not my home language.

Regards

Johan Van Tonder

 

From: papercreters@yahoogroups.com [mailto:papercreters@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of JackC
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2011 5:51 PM
To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix desgn

 

 

I think the question was to know the 'mix design', not 'mixer design'.

A mix design in concrete is typically the number of pounds of Portland cement, to pounds of dry sand, to pounds of rock/aggregate (and size of aggregate), to pounds of water. Other things could be included like flyash, crushed slag, and other additives. But everything is done by weight. Then knowing how much of the mix makes a cubic yard. All this helps re-compute the amount of components to be able to get the amount of concrete you want all mixed right. Often concrete is mixed in a small batch to make a 'standard cylinder' that it put through a crush test to compare mix designs. So keeping track of mix designs allows you to make the 'same concrete' the same way each time. Kind of required when putting in highways or big buildings. Yes, the old 3-2-1 plus enough water to make it pourable mix works, it is just not consistent (3 shovels of rock, 2 of sand, 1 of cement). This is kind of the general concrete mix many folks use all over the world, just not high tech!

Papercrete can be calculated the same way.

BTW, water is 8lbs / gallon, and rock is about 64lbs/cubic foot, and a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. Getting a good scale that will measure 150+ lbs that is good for 'outside use' (like at the mix site) is great to help make good concrete.

I would like to know good mix designs for papercrete too!

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, Glenneth Lambert <glenneth@...> wrote:
>
> Plans for mixers can be gotten @ livinginpaper.com
>
> Sir Glenneth - from " the land of Cobb "
>
> http://www.TheFINE-ARTcafe.org/glenneth
> On Oct 4, 2007, at 6:36 PM, achmad basuki wrote:
>
> > Hi, I am intersted to know papercrete and I want to use it to my house
> > building. But I am not sure about papercrete mix design. Who knows
> > papercrete mix desisn? Please send me information abaout it. Thank you
> > before.
> >  
> > Achmad Basuki
> > Solo-Indonesia
> >
> > Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story.
> > Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games.
>

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[papercreters] Re: Papercrete mix desgn

I think the question was to know the 'mix design', not 'mixer design'.

A mix design in concrete is typically the number of pounds of Portland cement, to pounds of dry sand, to pounds of rock/aggregate (and size of aggregate), to pounds of water. Other things could be included like flyash, crushed slag, and other additives. But everything is done by weight. Then knowing how much of the mix makes a cubic yard. All this helps re-compute the amount of components to be able to get the amount of concrete you want all mixed right. Often concrete is mixed in a small batch to make a 'standard cylinder' that it put through a crush test to compare mix designs. So keeping track of mix designs allows you to make the 'same concrete' the same way each time. Kind of required when putting in highways or big buildings. Yes, the old 3-2-1 plus enough water to make it pourable mix works, it is just not consistent (3 shovels of rock, 2 of sand, 1 of cement). This is kind of the general concrete mix many folks use all over the world, just not high tech!

Papercrete can be calculated the same way.

BTW, water is 8lbs / gallon, and rock is about 64lbs/cubic foot, and a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. Getting a good scale that will measure 150+ lbs that is good for 'outside use' (like at the mix site) is great to help make good concrete.

I would like to know good mix designs for papercrete too!

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, Glenneth Lambert <glenneth@...> wrote:
>
> Plans for mixers can be gotten @ livinginpaper.com
>
> Sir Glenneth - from " the land of Cobb "
>
> http://www.TheFINE-ARTcafe.org/glenneth
> On Oct 4, 2007, at 6:36 PM, achmad basuki wrote:
>
> > Hi, I am intersted to know papercrete and I want to use it to my house
> > building. But I am not sure about papercrete mix design. Who knows
> > papercrete mix desisn? Please send me information abaout it. Thank you
> > before.
> >  
> > Achmad Basuki
> > Solo-Indonesia
> >
> > Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story.
> > Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games.
>

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