Cob: Re: rope making fibers

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On Sun, 6 Aug 2000, Howard Switzer wrote:

> >Shannon wrote
> >
> > While the fiber is "toothy", are the un-retted stalks (i.e. hemp "straw")?
> > If it has to go through the retting process, it would seem to me to make
> > it less desirable.
> 
> Yes, one might think the retting process, which is freeing the fiber from
> the stalk by letting the stuff binding them together rot a bit, might leave
> you with an undesirable product. Americans are so squimish about rot. But
> having inspected such fiber myself, I think it is perhaps considerable
> evidence of the fiber's rot resistance. No, I don't think un-retted stalks
> are regarded as "straw," nor can I imagine trying to mix them into cob.
> Actually, I'm finding it rather humorous to imagine.
[snip]

I should have made it clearer, the rot does not bother me at all, simply
the need to go through the significant time delay of this additional phase
of processing.  Not having any hands on experience with hemp stalks, I was
curious if they could be mixed in as-is.  I have been making cob using a
variety of plants in the mixture (whatever is growing near the site), some
of it is not really "straw-like", so I was curious how hemp stalks might
work if it ever becomes a viable choice in this country.


Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
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