Cob: Press/mixer ideas

[Kenn Goodson]

Charmaine, Ocean and All,

Thanks for the suggestions and always the infectious enthusiasm with which 
you all seem to write.

Ocean suggests that human power is probably better if it is possible, and I 
couldn't agree more.  That's the beauty of hydraulics.  It's a force 
multiplier, and doesn't necessarily have to be machine powered.  Instead of a 
machine powered hydraulic ram providing the force, a good old hydraulic 
barrel jack could provide the force needed.  Also, there are human powered 
pumps that can be attached to a larger ram, but I am not sure that so much 
force would be required.  Come to think of it, a vane pump could be bicycle 
powered with appropriate gearing. Hmmm, that just occurred to me.  But now I 
am reinventing the wheel again.  Stop me before someone gets hurt.

Charmaine, I wasn't thinking of compressing the material so much that it 
would make a brick, although I admit I hadn't even considered that 
possibility, which isn't such a bad idea. This is why I love these open 
forums like this. Open source is great! I was only thinking of applying 
enough pressure to bond the mix together and express a little excess water, 
and then apply the mix to the wall, like conventional cob.  The press would 
not be a 6 sided device, only five sides.  It would be more of a large open 
pan where one side is always open, and after the rammed side is retracted the 
material could be forked out and used conventionally.

My goal, since I will probably end up as a solo builder, for a variety of 
reasons, is to speed up the process without compromising the quality of the 
result.  I've looked at the numbers, and they get large pretty quick.  Just 
as an example, a foot thick wall with just a 60 foot perimeter and 5 feet 
tall adds up to  300 cubic feet of material.  That's a lot of material for 
one average joe to move and place.

Anyway, I am still doodling various floor plans and searching for a pile of 
dirt to start building on, so I have lots of time to learn and learn and 
learn some more.  

Many thanks to you all!
Kenn