Cob: Fw: Re: Cob--fasteners, bought or natural?

[Bill&Julie]

Hidare All,,, MORTICE and TENON,,, My Grandfather was a barn builder,
And as a littl'un I remember getting yelled at quite a bit for looking at
his
equipment. The equipment that he used was Antique 50 years ago.
The hole that was drilled in Crossways in the TENON, did not line up with
the Crossways hole in the BEAM, that went through the MORTICE.
This INTERFERENCE fit ( 1/8 inch offset ) would draw the Tenon tight
into the mortice when a hardwood peg was driven through the
hole in the beam.
For those that still have a hard time visualizing this, do a search for
"mortice and tenon".  I will now to see if there is anything out there...

I hope to be helpfull,,bill

----- Original Message -----
From: "gahada" <gahada at swns.net>
To: <coblist at deatech.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 7:45 AM
Subject: Cob: Re: Cob--fasteners, bought or natural?


>
>  I'm not sure it would work with the mix of logs we actually
> > used--different species, a few cut earlier than the rest.  He remains
> > concerned about shrinkage and chinking, so we--probably me, by that
> > time--are planning to do the chinking in late summer.  Since the logs
are
> > vertical, the problem is not the building settling.  I might do some
> testing
> > if I ever plan to do this again.
> >
> > Query--would it also work for green poles in a roof?
> >
>
>      All the lovely old cob houses and almost all wood-frame buildings ,
> until the late 19th C. , used wooden "tree nails" ( the actual term).
>
>        If you are concerned with tenons holding,  use glue.
>
>        I use West System epoxy, a waterproof "marine" epoxy.
>
>        Another glue would be one of the polyesters such as "Gorilla Glue".
>
>        Perhaps waterglass would also provide enough adhesion to unite
wood.
> I like waterglass as it is cheap and the only ( !!!!) non-organic
adhesive.
>
>         "Non-organic" in the case of adhesives is good since the word
> "organic" refers to the chemical categories of  carbon-based ( organic
> chemistry) and non-carbon based ( inorganic).
>
>          Petroleum products and most of the nastier things in the chemical
> inventory are "organic".
>
>           Waterglass is Sodium silicate, a straightforward product which
is
> generally considered to be non-toxic.
>
>         It is the main ingredient in concrete sealers and refractory
cements
> ( stove cement).
>
>          Combined with talc and/or dry clays, it can probably(!) be foamed
> and used as a fireproof insulating material.
>
>          I'll try a small batch and see how it works.
>
>                      arne
>
>