Cob: Re: Use of Forms?

[terry]

Ray

We live in South Central Mo. and are building a round cob cabin. We had most
of the summer to build everyday since we teach, but once school started it
was hard to make progress. We found  that 4 people and a mortar mixer could
get up 10-15 loads per day, Depending on how hot it was and how good of
workers you had, we were paying highschool kids.  Biggest problem was we
worked to late in the season, at least this year. Oct. and Nov. were to cold
and wet, so it didn't have time to dry out and we are going to lose some of
the cob.  Yes I think that it could be done using forms, we are thinking
about trying Paper Adobe or Papercreteon an out building.  Problem would be
having mixer big enough to do large pour and making it runny enough to pump
into the forms.  Since our weather here is so humid we won't build beyond
end of Aug. in order for the building to hae time to dry.  The book if by
Gordon Solberg, and Charmine Tarylor also has a book on the subject.   Best
of Luck  Terry
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ray Luechtefeld" <ray at cognitra.com>
To: <coblist at deatech.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2002 9:49 PM
Subject: Cob: Use of Forms?


>
> 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
>
>
>
>