[Cob] Curious about the clay? Get to a workshop!!!

[Ocean Liff-Anderson]

I concur with Howard.  "The Hand Sculpted House" is the most  
comprehensive primer on cob building, containing information of the  
technical details of cob (including sourcing clay, quality of soil,  
ideal mixes of sand & straw, etc.) plus site considerations, design  
issues, and an overall philosophical treatise justifying and  
compelling the use of cob and other green building technology.

However, even with such a great cob bible, there is NO SUBSTITUTE for  
hands-on (and feets-on) experience - get to a workshop!  You won't  
know cob until you've actually trod on it, built with it, seen  
structures rise from a pile of stones and dirt in to a living,  
breathing space.  There are countless cob workshops every summer  
around the States as well as abroad.  If you can't afford the  
workshop fees, many/most of the workshops accept work trade - cob is  
labor intensive, and workshop hosts gladly accept work traders who  
want to stay an extra week or several!

You can find workshop opportunities by Googling cob workshop or such,  
or check http://www.cobcottage.com  That's the Cob Cottage Company,  
founders Ianto & Linda, and you'll find many books there (including  
The Hand Sculpted House, the Rocket Stove, Build Your Own Earth  
Oven).  Beware, you must send Cob Cottage payment in cash or postal  
money orders - no credit cards!

Good luck and happy cobbing,
Ocean Liff-Anderson
Corvallis, Oregon

ps: Check out our cob oven restaurant - FireWorks! http:// 
FireWorksVenue.com

On May 7, 2009, at 7:40 AM, <howard at earthandstraw.com> wrote:

> You should read The Hand Sculpted House.  Clay in your subsoil is  
> common, sometimes there is more or less so you need to determine  
> that.  Putting some in a jar of water shaken and mixed very well  
> then letting it sit for a time to settle out leaving clear water on  
> top will help you determine how much clay you have.  The clay is  
> the last thing to settle out, it is what colors the water, so the  
> top layer of material in your jar is the clay, the sand will be on  
> the bottom.  You need from 10 to 20% clay for cob so you may need  
> to add clay or sand depending.  Make some test bricks.  You can get  
> clay soil and sand mixed at an athletic supply company, ask for  
> mound clay, it is used on baseball diamonds.  You can get it in  
> bags or buy a truck load.  But first you should ask a local  
> excavating/hauling company if they can get you some good clay rich  
> sub-soil.
>
>
> Howard Switzer, Architect
> 668 Hurricane Creek Road
> Linden, TN 37096
> 931-589-6513
> www.earthandstraw.com
>
>>   ----- Original Message -----
>>   From: Robert J Churchill
>>   To: coblist at deatech.com
>>   Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 12:19 AM
>>   Subject: [Cob] Curious about the clay
>>
>>
>>   The word "clay" is used repeatedly but really where exactly is  
>> all this clay coming from? I have no idea where I'm supposed to  
>> get all this clay. For me, it would be easier just to buy clay  
>> from a ceramics shop but I don't even know if that would work. I  
>> live in an urban area and it's not like we can just go out and dig  
>> up clay at a local quarry.
>>