Cob: Use of Forms?

[charmaine taylor]

Yes, cob is being actively created via "tractor cob".  A couple guys in Nevada
City CA mix cob on a flat spot wit, clamped (like the Madrigil form Ken Kern
promoted for double wall forms)  and 4' long by 1 ft high( maybe more) they are
building cob fast. I saw and entered a small  round retrreat room maybe 12'
diam,.half underground.

they also did a hundred foot long cob wall , 8' high, arch entrys with living
sod roof, all with forms and tractor.
last I hear they were going to present this at the Nat build Colloq. in OR in
Oct..anyone know if they did?

I think the forms were actually thin board, like cut down paneling,and they
just dump the dryish cob in, tamp a little and move the form up and dump again
as I recall. This is Simon ( a Brit in the US) and Rob who built this all on
Ananda, a religios village.  Saw all this in June and encouraged them to write
it up.  I have some images I will upload, the cob entry walls are
extroardinarily beautiful, deep wine red clay, slates used as sills in the
window arches, just gorgeous cob work. sculpted seating areas, portholes and
sculpted art into the walls too.

Ms. Charmaine  Taylor/ Taylor Publishing
http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com
http://www.papercrete.com
PO Box 375, Cutten CA 95534
707-441-1632

Ray Luechtefeld wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have been following this list with great interest and we are considering
> doing a cob house in South Central Missouri.
>
> My problem is that I don't have a lot of time to spend working on a cob
> house.  I saw a reference to historical cob buildings that mentioned that
> some of the "newer" (150 years old) cob houses were built with forms to hold
> the cob in place.
>
> Does this mean that the cob can be mixed and then just poured into the
> forms, like concrete?  I haven't heard anything about this approach and
> would like to know if anyone has any information or comments about it.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Ray