[Cob] curved concrete!

[Ocean Liff-Anderson]

masonite is the weakest form of building material out there, this  
side of cardboard - but on the "green" side, it is made of recycled  
wood "flour"

if your curve isn't too tight, you might try 1/4 plywood, this might  
last through a few pours.

oh, a word of caution.  i assume you'll be using some rebar in the  
footing.  be very careful while bending curved rebar.  when i was  
working on the kiva one guy grabbed one end of an 8' rod and torqued  
it while it was being held in the middle by another guy.  get the  
picture?  the loose end whipped up and smacked the side of my head -  
caused "only" 3 stitches!  but the rebar hit me 1" from my left eye,  
so i'm lucky to have vision in both eyes right now!

good luck,
ocean


On Jul 21, 2007, at 11:50 AM, Tys Sniffen wrote:

> I agree about spending the right money on the right things... I  
> just don't
> like 'one-time-use' items and all the throw-away of typical  
> construction, so
> I thought I'd explore the options.
> Tys
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ocean Liff-Anderson [mailto:ocean at woodfiredeatery.com]
> Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 11:51 PM
> To: Tys Sniffen
> Subject: Re: [Cob] curved concrete!
>
> ya, we bought it new, and i don't think i'd count on it lasting more
> than one or two times...it's basically glued-together wood dust...not
> that durable when exposed to the extremely caustic character of
> concrete... regular plywood forms don't last through many pours, and
> they are much more durable than masonite...
>
> suggestion:  don't expect to be able to build a house on a shoe-
> string budget.  there are certain areas you shouldn't skimp -
> including foundation work and the roofing, which i don't believe
> there are very many inexpensive alternatives...
>
> ocean
>
>   On Jul 20, 2007, at 7:01 PM, Tys Sniffen wrote:
>
>> Thanks for that info!  Did you buy the masonite new? Is it a one
>> time use
>> thing? being a super tight-wad, I'm wondering if I can find this  
>> stuff
>> somewhere and give it more than one use.
>> Any suggestions?
>> Tys
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ocean Liff-Anderson [mailto:ocean at woodfiredeatery.com]
>> Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2007 4:50 PM
>> To: Tys Sniffen
>> Cc: coblist at deatech.com
>> Subject: Re: [Cob] curved concrete!
>>
>> boy, have we ever...
>>
>> here's what we did at the restaurant, with pics of how we did it!
>>
>> 1.  built a frame of masonite, well supported with  2x4 bracing and
>> stakes every foot or so
>> ( http://www.woodfiredeatery.com/images/artisticconcrete1.jpg )
>>
>> 2.  kiko then applied a mud-plaster bas relief form on the inside
>> ( http://www.woodfiredeatery.com/images/artisticconcrete2.jpg )
>>
>> 3. which made for a beautiful surface once concrete was stained with
>> ferrous sulphate
>> ( http://www.woodfiredeatery.com/images/artisticconcrete3.jpg )
>>
>> as kiko said to me:  "there's enough ugly concrete in the world - if
>> you're going to use concrete, at least make it beautiful!"
>>
>> ocean
>> http://www.woodfiredeatery.com
>> http://www.peacemaking.org
>>
>>
>> On Jul 19, 2007, at 3:50 PM, Tys Sniffen wrote:
>>
>>> How have people built the forms for the continuous concrete bond
>>> beam?
>>> Especially around curves?  What's the best way to hold it together?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Tys
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Coblist mailing list
>>> Coblist at deatech.com
>>> http://www.deatech.com/mailman/listinfo/coblist
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>