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Post by patamos on Sept 15, 2020 19:02:52 GMT -8
Hi Folks, Been a while... Great to see this awesome forum still humming along... Just thought i'd say hi and share a bit about some of the ways i have been getting muddy lately. amosclayworks.ca/
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fuegos
Full Member
not out of the woods yet
Posts: 177
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Post by fuegos on Sept 16, 2020 0:38:28 GMT -8
Wow that all looks amazing , great website & some really interesting projects. I've not long finished my first build & i used sand/clay mortar as we have what seems to be a large vein of pure clay on our land .Your site has got me thinking....
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Post by Vortex on Sept 16, 2020 8:32:11 GMT -8
Beautiful workmanship Pat
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Post by patamos on Sept 16, 2020 20:54:07 GMT -8
Thank you both for the feedback Ya, i love working with clay. So calming and grounding to have my hands in it. A few years back my neighbour was digging out truckloads of sticky brown stuff. I paid a dump-truck driver (my other neighbour) $90 for 3 full loads = About 30 yards worth. Everyone was happy with the deal. I've lost count of how many earthen floors, wall plasters and masonnry heaters i have since built with it, and i'm still barely halfway through the pile!!
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fuegos
Full Member
not out of the woods yet
Posts: 177
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Post by fuegos on Sept 17, 2020 10:47:11 GMT -8
At 16 i started as an apprentice in the metalwork trades & 15 years later i rediscovered woodworking...clay and wood go together like cheese and onion. hopefully I'll have the time and opportunity to build a second house on our place combining straw bale , cob and wood. Mutual aid , sharing ,open source & community are all essential if we are to survive as an organised human society as are low impact , healthy & sustainable ways of living.Keep up the good work .
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fuegos
Full Member
not out of the woods yet
Posts: 177
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Post by fuegos on Sept 18, 2020 10:53:17 GMT -8
OK so maybe not cheese and onion .... ;-) what i was trying to say was the need for wood in buildings to be able to dry out is complimented by clay or cob.My parents newly married lived in a rented timber framed , wattle and daub house that dated from the 16th century , pretty much as pictured on the confluence of remedy page as a German light clay barn.It always puzzled me as a kid why the timbers didn't rot.My folks also remembered that mold or damp weren't a problem in that house as opposed to more so called modern brick buildings.
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Post by patamos on Sept 19, 2020 11:44:06 GMT -8
Ya man,
Clay and wood are kindred. So many people around here (west coast canada) suffer from moldy houses made of synthetic garbage... And when i tell them how these ancient techniques involving clay and fibre offer a simple durable mold-free solution... they shake their heads in disbelief It is usually only people such as yourself who have personally experienced such dwellings who have an inkling of what is possible.
kinda the same situation with rockets and masonry heaters...
Thanks for sharing your perspective
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dcp
New Member
Posts: 35
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Post by dcp on Sept 21, 2020 22:23:13 GMT -8
This is sooo right about new concrete/ synthetic materials in buildings. We lived many years, to many years in a concrete appartment. Insulated with expanded foam. It was could and moist in the winter and really hot in the summer. Last levell, top of the block. We live now in a wooden house ,last 12 years, and was big emprovement firing with wood in a steel oven. I do build now a 200 mm batch box in a bell brick stove. Hope will be better . . .
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Post by patamos on Sept 23, 2020 10:42:19 GMT -8
ha. I think most anything is better than concrete! I remember reading that Thomas Edison came up with a house building system back in the early 1900s that was almost entirely concrete, poured into forms. The formwork moulds were complex, made to look like elaborate arts and crafts style of that era. But the overall cost was very low. He wanted to mass produce homes for low income families. However, NOBODY wanted to live in them. Something about the feel (energy) is just not good. Give me clay wood and stone any day
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fuegos
Full Member
not out of the woods yet
Posts: 177
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Post by fuegos on Sept 23, 2020 11:24:58 GMT -8
You've got me thinking about our new compost toilet build.I was planning to use timbers , basically a shed but i think i'm going to have a go at wattle & daub .
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Post by patamos on Sept 23, 2020 18:24:40 GMT -8
Ya bamboo sticks are great for that. or most any green branches will do.
for the daub i like to mix thick clay slip with chopped straw. So easy to work with, and the straw is becoming easier to find in compressed bags at farmer supply stores. (it is sold as stall bedding for livestock in barns)
You could also just stud frame it and then infill with light-clay (see amosclayworks.ca website). Most any fibre will do in the mix.
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fuegos
Full Member
not out of the woods yet
Posts: 177
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Post by fuegos on Sept 24, 2020 10:28:37 GMT -8
I'm thinking of using dogwood , its abundant here & straw is available free or cheap - a big bale , you know one of those monster things costs 5 € In the UK Hazel was traditionally used & it grows here a few miles away but i'm keen to just use what's around me , experiment , fail and learn , work things out.I made a small amount of slip to cast the top slab of my oven , broke it up by hand so any tips would be welcome . I don't have a cement mixer , i do all my mixing by hand as most of our construction is dry wall stone or timber but i'm not a primitive !
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fuegos
Full Member
not out of the woods yet
Posts: 177
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Post by fuegos on Sept 24, 2020 10:30:39 GMT -8
i meant to say thanks man for contributing , might try the light clay ?
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dcp
New Member
Posts: 35
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Post by dcp on Sept 24, 2020 23:45:32 GMT -8
#I made a small amount of slip to cast the top slab of my oven , broke it up by hand so any tips would be welcome# What kind of oven ?? do you think cooking plate?? slab over burning chamber??
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fuegos
Full Member
not out of the woods yet
Posts: 177
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Post by fuegos on Sept 25, 2020 11:50:14 GMT -8
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