[Cob] cement mixer

[phil]

I have had tremendous luck with a cement mixer and my mix does not come out too wet. To keep it from being too wet a mix, we soak all our clay and then mix it with a paddle mixer on a drill until it is like a thick milkshake. We add this to the mixer in which we have already placed our sand. After letting it rotate for a bit and making any adjustments needed we add two large stones that tumble along with the clay/sand and mash it up while helping to keep it from sticking to the drum. We then add straw. Some straw may need to be added after turning it out into the wheel barrow and moving it to the wall. We also use a good bit of shredded paper in our cob and plasters. It makes it feel stickier and makes a lighter mix. We try to never add just plain water and instead only use clay slip.


Phil

-----Original Message-----
From: "Damon Howell" [dhowell at pickensprogress.com]
Date: 08/04/2008 03:23 PM
To: coblist at deatech.com
Subject: Re: [Cob] cement mixer

I am going to try the cement mixer approach for mixing, since I feel  
like I'll never get finished before winter without some mechanized  
help. I tried the tiller and fourwheeler, but didn't have much luck  
with either. I started mixing by hand in the wheel barrow, which  
seems to take about the same amount of time as tarping, but the  
advantage is you don't have to use your back as much. The mix is a  
tad more wet than tarping, but nothing 30 minutes in the sun won't  
take care of. I saw a video on youtube of someone using a cement  
mixer. It appears to come out of the mixer too wet to build with  
right away, but allowing it to stiffen up before hand seems legit.   
It sure will slash the labor tremendously. Like I said, I will be  
trying it, so afterwards I will let everyone know how it turns out.  
I've heard it's not as good but it seems that if you let it stiffen  
before building, it would yield the same.

Damon

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