[Cob] volunteering opportunity, and wood shavings in cob

[Robert Alcock]

Hi group,

First, some news: Abrazo House, our cob/straw bale hybrid house and 
study centre here in N Spain is growing - we are just about to start on 
the second story, the straw bales should arrive on or around August 
14th, and we hope to get the house roofed over by the middle of 
September. We've still got room for a couple of volunteers to help at 
this busy time - anybody looking for a short-notice volunteering 
opportunity should check out our website, http://www.abrazohouse.org, 
and read the conditions at http://www.abrazohouse.org/?p=157.

Second, a question: About adding wood shavings to cob as a type of 
aggregate in place of some of the sand. Anybody tried this? I'm thinking 
it could improve the insulation value and lessen the weight without 
reducing strength too much... but maybe that depends on getting a good 
bond between the clay and the wood shavings?

Robert
www.abrazohouse.org