Big Mistake

Alt Homebuilding - PaperCrete - Other Things

Well I did not get to cut my blocks out. Ilona ended up taking a chain saw to them. Says it felt like cutting through butter. So now I have those 9 blocks and the ones that I made today.

What I would like to do is find a way to mount the mixer so I can run it in a stationary position instead of driving a couple of miles up the road. I'm just not sure how to do it. I can raise up the mixer no problem I can jack up my sammi but how do you connect the wheels to get everything turning. We shall see what I can figure out tomorrow.

Ideas for Forms

Forms and Such

I found some other goodies to use as forms. A couple of square boxes. A couple of 8" water line tubes about 3 or 4 feet tall. I wonder how long I would need to leave the form in place?

5 batches

Well, I have finished making a tow behind mixer. took awhile. Actually had to buy wheels and tires for the axel. Used a 55 gallon steel drum and "bondo" forgot to put in the baffle for the first 2 mixes. Then I rewatched the video and fixed the problem. The first two mixes were expermints. 2 shovels cement and about 40 pounds of paper. Free poured out buy the shed.

Today after watching the videos for about the 3rd time I think I finally got it right. 2 shovels of cement weighs about 14 pounds. 14 pounds of paper and 2 shovels of sand. Now that fills up my barrel. Time to go for a very slow 2 mile drive.

So I made a 12"x12"x8' form takes two batches to fill it. Then I made a 6'x6'6" form to make "brownie" blocks. It got dark at 3 fills and I think it needs one more fill. Looks like I will not be able to cut it till tomorrow sometime.

I am pouring on top of carpet. The water drains off great and leaves me a pretty grey fill. I chopped my 8' log up into 3 sections. Tomorrow I will stack them and see how they hold up.

I already know I will be cutting my 6'x6' form down to 2'x6' it's 8:40 PM just took the form off the 6'x6' form and it is holding shape nicely. tomorrow will cut out the blocks.

 

Hot Dog, it's 80 degrees on the Front porch in the shade. Been playing with my little tow - mixer having lots of fun. Putting in 30 pounds of paper and filling 2/3 full the mix comes out really really thick. Next load I'll try 20 pounds of paper.

I still need to build some forms for building blocks. I also need to dig out a footer trench where I want to build the new shed around an old broken down van.

I need a longer weekend. I still have to do the laundry. As usual I brought work home and have not yet touched it. And I have a new class starting on the 20th.

If I can figure out how to upload pictures I'll do one of the mixer.

I DID IT !

02-11-2006 Thomas Edison's birthday

Well I did it. Today I finished my first papercrete mixer. I made my first batch of papercrete and poured it into a form which will someday form part of the driveway path and prevent people from parking to close to the trees.

After pouring I watched the beautiful clear water run out. Then I played in the papercrete for a few minutes. I might have started a little tree critter but it was windy and my hands got cold.

I love it. Tomorrow I will play in the papercrete some more. I have been collecting paper for over a year and have a shed full. More later