Cob: Use of Forms?

[Darel Henman]

Charmaine, 
  thanks for the information about the tractor cob.   Please let me (us)
know when and where the pictures will be available for viewing. 

Darel

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charmaine taylor wrote:
> 
> 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