Cob RE: light clay in bags

[Patrick Newberry]

> 	He said that off the top of his head (without thinking about it) that your
> reasoning sounded OK. He mentioned that at CalEarth they filled the
> straw-clay bags and let them dry *first* before stacking them... because
> they felt that the trapped moisture might not exit the bags quickly enough
> to prevent the straw from rotting, and would be even more slow to exit if
> the bags were stacked damp. The dry bags didn't situate themselves well
> until a couple courses were laid up on top of them. There was an amount of
> compression, but not as much as when the bags were laid damp rather than
> dry. He suggested that sacrificial interior forms of saplings or pvc should
> be considered, and stressed again that the stucco will be doing the work of
> making it strong. He reiterated the need to keep the dome shape higher than
> it is wide - a 22' dome will be pretty tall.

(response)
Well I look  at it like this. If the dome is perfectly round it 
would be 11 feet from the center to the top. With a centenary 
arch (or lancet arch) per the Cal-Earth method it would be 22 feet 
high. I feel that the light clay method will be some where in 
between. There is the small fact that I am not corbeling in until I 
get past the vaults leading into the dome.This will of course 
increase the height. I also plan on putting in a sky light so this 
will help hold the height down. I am still considering other 
options. 

To make my light clay I soaked my clay in water for a day or 
so, then put it in a cement mixer with enough water to make a milk 
shake consistency and then poured it over the straw. It was rather 
damp. But it dried fine even thought that the straw would rot did 
enter my mind. I live in a very humid and warm climate so if it was 
going to happen, this is a likely location. Heck at Cal-Earth and that 
desert climate I doubt you'd have much problem. The bags do breath as 
they have small slits in them. 


>  
> 
> 	I told Joe a bit about your plans and what you've been doing for the past
> - what's it been now, three years? - and he was impressed, wishes you his
> best.
> 
> 

I know this is really going to be hard to believe, but I actually 
started on June first last year on this building. Thats when we had 
the well put in. I have been doing other project and proto-types and 
misc other poking around with ideas for three years however. So it 
really hasn't been even one year yet!. 



Love and light. 
Pat
http:/www.
    "I see nobody on the road," said Alice.
    "I only wish I had such eyes," the King 
    remarked in a fretful tone. "To be able to 
    see Nobody! And at that distance too! Why, 
    it's as much as I can do to see real people,
    by this light!" 
                     - Lewis Carroll,
                       Through the Looking-Glass