[Cob] fibers

Fri Oct 1 16:23:48 CDT 2010

Hi folks....

    All this list of fibers that might work makes it a very open field of what to try.    Has anyone tried pine straw ??   I know in the South they use to plaster/cob houses using Spanish moss.  And have been told that often the inside walls had human hair added in to the plaster.   
    <G>   And I am sitting here looking at sacks of papers ran thru a shredder and thinking...." Surely there is something neat I can do with this  if I could just get some days off.       Twelve hour shifts suck, even if you do like your job.    

      glenna   

glenna

--- On Fri, 10/1/10, coblist-request at deatech.com <coblist-request at deatech.com> wrote:

From: coblist-request at deatech.com <coblist-request at deatech.com>
Subject: Coblist Digest, Vol 8, Issue 182
To: coblist at deatech.com
Date: Friday, October 1, 2010, 2:00 PM

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Today's Topics:

   1. WOOD FIBER COB--alternative uses/ideas (Charmaine Taylor)
   2. Re: WOOD FIBER COB--alternative uses/ideas (Joseph Kennedy)
   3. lime update (Tys Sniffen)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:10:20 -0700
From: Charmaine Taylor <dirtcheapbuilderbooks at gmail.com>
Subject: [Cob] WOOD FIBER COB--alternative uses/ideas
To: coblist at deatech.com
Message-ID:
    <AANLkTikyTuwxEkH-CAXgmYFNcx-mzmnWX68n9H77tXqF at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

" but all of the wood fibers that I have seen so far are stronger than
any straw that I have ever seen.
The pile of shredded wood in my photo essay is 100% willow oak,
Robert uses a six inch Vermeer shredder with auto-feed, but I have
seen similar chips
produced by other chippers and other types of wood."
 ++++++++++++++++

I am always glad to see wood fiber/waste fiber being discussed, as it
proves the  wide scale of uses for organic materials.

As you all  know 'papercrete' and paper adobe uses shredded paper, and
clay sandy dirt combined with cement, or without, to  make walls,
blocks, plasters..similar to cob. Becky Bee saw paper being added
while she was in AU/NZ and added it to her cob too, creating
'papercob',  and cobber  Michael Smith called his version with wood
fibers 'cobwood'

But as reported for the more than the last DECADE- since 1998-  use of
OTHER organics:  chopped dry fibers, Redwood tree sawdust ( my
favorite)  and dry shredded shrubbery/bushes (called Agstone by
inventor in  Calif., John Stahl,  learn more  at www.tree.org).

Redwood  bark comes off in long strips, and is very 'stringy'
naturally, once dried, can be combined with sawdust to give both
volume and tensile strength to a clay mix.

Also  Stahl and Canadian  builders used hemp/bast fiber-  both waste
from  medicinal  plant growth and  industrial hemp waste can be
shredded and used with clay.
John said he often awoke at his remote land site  in Mendicino county
to find  huge mounds of chopped down medicinal hemp plants  dumped on
his property by local nervous growers. Which he gratefully used to
grind up in  his Hollander beater, and with a boat turbine mixer he
added other binders to make his "Agstone" building material.  (John
had virtually NO clay on his rocky property, so he used purchased sand
and cement- his only option he thought, to test and create his
formulas.  And he did it very scientifically, making tubes of many
variations of mixes to determine the best for building outdoor stairs,
floors, and walls. He used a commercial grade wood chipper too.

So where is the dividing line?  There isn't one!

 Purists will never consider cement in  anything,  that is fine- you
can accomplish so much, gaining great strength, and mass, by using
only clay and organics, even seaweed has been tried.

Combo of paper/cardboard plus clay is called ' paper  adobe' or
"fidobe', but falls right into the 'cob' camp  too!

I've tested Foxtail plants, Pampas grass, even used a partial bale  of
the "Coccoon  brand" newspaper insulation material, dried 6" lawn
clippings and other 'weeds' in my mixes.. just about anything  dry &
organic can  work.

Charmaine Taylor Publishing
www.papercrete.com

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2010 05:18:28 +0000
From: Joseph Kennedy <livingearth62 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Cob] WOOD FIBER COB--alternative uses/ideas
To: <dirtcheapbuilderbooks at gmail.com>, <coblist at deatech.com>
Message-ID: <BLU105-W7E5804CE35DFD3D543D79B2690 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Dear Charmaine,

I really appreciate your common sense approach.  If a fiber seems strong, it's stong.  If a binder seems to stick, try it out.  If you have some admixture, throw it in and see.  The proof is in the pudding.

I remember someone telling me of one of the English cobbers that he never saw a subsoil he didn't like.  I've never seen a fiber, I've never met a clay, I've never met an admixture, I couldn't at least consider.  If in doubt, be conservative.  Try and see.  One of my favorite mixes was horse manure and clay for cordwood construction.  This of course was dismissed by the "experts".  Screw em!  It's like cooking.  Get good at the recipes and then go wild.

My thoughts, whatever their worth.

Best,

Joe Kennedy

> Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:10:20 -0700
> From: dirtcheapbuilderbooks at gmail.com
> To: coblist at deatech.com
> Subject: [Cob] WOOD FIBER COB--alternative uses/ideas
> 
> " but all of the wood fibers that I have seen so far are stronger than
> any straw that I have ever seen.
> The pile of shredded wood in my photo essay is 100% willow oak,
> Robert uses a six inch Vermeer shredder with auto-feed, but I have
> seen similar chips
> produced by other chippers and other types of wood."
> ++++++++++++++++
> 
> I am always glad to see wood fiber/waste fiber being discussed, as it
> proves the wide scale of uses for organic materials.
> 
> As you all know 'papercrete' and paper adobe uses shredded paper, and
> clay sandy dirt combined with cement, or without, to make walls,
> blocks, plasters..similar to cob. Becky Bee saw paper being added
> while she was in AU/NZ and added it to her cob too, creating
> 'papercob', and cobber Michael Smith called his version with wood
> fibers 'cobwood'
> 
> But as reported for the more than the last DECADE- since 1998- use of
> OTHER organics: chopped dry fibers, Redwood tree sawdust ( my
> favorite) and dry shredded shrubbery/bushes (called Agstone by
> inventor in Calif., John Stahl, learn more at www.tree.org).
> 
> Redwood bark comes off in long strips, and is very 'stringy'
> naturally, once dried, can be combined with sawdust to give both
> volume and tensile strength to a clay mix.
> 
> Also Stahl and Canadian builders used hemp/bast fiber- both waste
> from medicinal plant growth and industrial hemp waste can be
> shredded and used with clay.
> John said he often awoke at his remote land site in Mendicino county
> to find huge mounds of chopped down medicinal hemp plants dumped on
> his property by local nervous growers. Which he gratefully used to
> grind up in his Hollander beater, and with a boat turbine mixer he
> added other binders to make his "Agstone" building material. (John
> had virtually NO clay on his rocky property, so he used purchased sand
> and cement- his only option he thought, to test and create his
> formulas. And he did it very scientifically, making tubes of many
> variations of mixes to determine the best for building outdoor stairs,
> floors, and walls. He used a commercial grade wood chipper too.
> 
> So where is the dividing line? There isn't one!
> 
> Purists will never consider cement in anything, that is fine- you
> can accomplish so much, gaining great strength, and mass, by using
> only clay and organics, even seaweed has been tried.
> 
> Combo of paper/cardboard plus clay is called ' paper adobe' or
> "fidobe', but falls right into the 'cob' camp too!
> 
> I've tested Foxtail plants, Pampas grass, even used a partial bale of
> the "Coccoon brand" newspaper insulation material, dried 6" lawn
> clippings and other 'weeds' in my mixes.. just about anything dry &
> organic can work.
> 
> Charmaine Taylor Publishing
> www.papercrete.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Coblist mailing list
> Coblist at deatech.com
> http://www.deatech.com/mailman/listinfo/coblist

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2010 09:57:05 -0700
From: "Tys Sniffen" <tys at ideamountain.com>
Subject: [Cob] lime update
To: <coblist at deatech.com>
Message-ID: <004c01cb6189$ae97aa20$0bc6fe60$@com>
Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="us-ascii"

Folks,

Well, we just dove right into the lime putty making process.  Got a bunch of
Type-S, dolometic, hydrated lime and put it in a bunch of water.  Worked
great. No real dangers, no problems. It's slaking comfortably now.   You can
see a picture on our blog of how much fits in a barrel at
http://journeyinthewoods.blogspot.com/2010/10/barrel-o-lime-we-began-our-lim
e-slaking.html 

Tys

------------------------------

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