Ed raduazo
28th April 2008, 01:24 AM
Bamboo Dome Project: Phase I - making the bamboo dome
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/502/thumbs/IMGP8166_3.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1747)
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/502/thumbs/IMGP8168_4.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1746)
Here is the bamboo dome that was made from split bamboo.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/517/thumbs/IMGP8162_3.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1748)
Phase II Wattle and Daub
Wattle is a woven backing. This dome-shaped woven backing was created from the ground up. Phase II consists of the manufacture and application of daub.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/1waddle8344.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1759)
Daub is a mixture of clay and cellulose. Traditionally the cellulose comes from the dung of grass eating animals. The animal's digestive system removes sugars, carbohydrates and proteins that we do not want in our wall, and what remains is cellulose.
I have found that most US citizens do not like working with dung. Dung is not a part of the US culture and experience, but sources of cellulose are everywhere. One of the most easily accessible sources of cellulose is shredded paper which I have been able to turn into pulp by soaking foot treading. It takes a little time and patience to work with light weight crew, but every once and a while I turn the pulp with my hands and check it by treading it for a few minutes to speed the process along.
The next step is to get some good sticky clay. We were lucky to have a pile of dirt scrapped up by grading in back of the church, and it only took a few minutes to have my crew run it through a 1/4 inch rabbit-wire screen.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/3waddle8331.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1757)
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/4waddle8366_2.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1756)
After this we put the pulp and clay on a tarp and began mixing it in a fairly conventional manner. Normally we say that water can not be pushed down into dry dirt, but in this case wet pulp can not be pushed down into dry dirt so once the dirt and pulp are on the tarp we roll the tarp so that the dirt is on top and then tread the dirt down through the pulp with our feet, roll the mix, and do it again, adding water as needed but not too much water because we want a highly viscous mix thick enough to span gaps between adjacent wattle. As you can see above spaces were left between some of the wattle strips so that "truth windows" would let in light and allow occupants of the structure to peek out. In places where the gaps turned out to be too large we wove in supplemental strips of bamboo to make plastering easier for my youth full crew.
Rolling and treading on a tarp created a sticky, uniform mix of paper and pulp. To a batch this size I added a gallon of Elmer's milk glue to act as a water repellant, and we began plastering.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/5waddle8340.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1755)
The primary plastering tool consists of our hands. Balls of mud were turned into pancakes and lightly patted into place. We told the kids to press the mud into the grid and then pat it like patting a dog. Many light pats work much better to make the mud flow and smooth than a few heavy slaps. We then smoothed the mud using plastic container lids like those on cottage cheese.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/6waddle8352.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1754)
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/7waddle8346.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1753)
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/8waddle8358.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1752)
It took about three tarps of mud and one day to do a first layer on this structure. I like to plaster the outside on the first day and then let it dry. Do the inside and let it dry and then do the finish plaster.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/9waddle8375.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1751)
Here you can see the truth windows. When doing the finish layer, the paper will be finely pulped by adding a little extra water and really walking on it for a long time to reduce large bits of paper and the clay will be screened through a 1/8 inch screen instead of a 1/4 inch. Also the finish layer will have a higher percentage of white glue to make it more water repellant.
Note the feet seen in the picture below are bricks placed between the vertical strips of bamboo which were jammed into the ground when we started to weave the structure.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/10waddle8376.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1750)
Ed raduazo
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/502/thumbs/IMGP8166_3.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1747)
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/502/thumbs/IMGP8168_4.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1746)
Here is the bamboo dome that was made from split bamboo.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/517/thumbs/IMGP8162_3.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1748)
Phase II Wattle and Daub
Wattle is a woven backing. This dome-shaped woven backing was created from the ground up. Phase II consists of the manufacture and application of daub.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/1waddle8344.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1759)
Daub is a mixture of clay and cellulose. Traditionally the cellulose comes from the dung of grass eating animals. The animal's digestive system removes sugars, carbohydrates and proteins that we do not want in our wall, and what remains is cellulose.
I have found that most US citizens do not like working with dung. Dung is not a part of the US culture and experience, but sources of cellulose are everywhere. One of the most easily accessible sources of cellulose is shredded paper which I have been able to turn into pulp by soaking foot treading. It takes a little time and patience to work with light weight crew, but every once and a while I turn the pulp with my hands and check it by treading it for a few minutes to speed the process along.
The next step is to get some good sticky clay. We were lucky to have a pile of dirt scrapped up by grading in back of the church, and it only took a few minutes to have my crew run it through a 1/4 inch rabbit-wire screen.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/3waddle8331.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1757)
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/4waddle8366_2.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1756)
After this we put the pulp and clay on a tarp and began mixing it in a fairly conventional manner. Normally we say that water can not be pushed down into dry dirt, but in this case wet pulp can not be pushed down into dry dirt so once the dirt and pulp are on the tarp we roll the tarp so that the dirt is on top and then tread the dirt down through the pulp with our feet, roll the mix, and do it again, adding water as needed but not too much water because we want a highly viscous mix thick enough to span gaps between adjacent wattle. As you can see above spaces were left between some of the wattle strips so that "truth windows" would let in light and allow occupants of the structure to peek out. In places where the gaps turned out to be too large we wove in supplemental strips of bamboo to make plastering easier for my youth full crew.
Rolling and treading on a tarp created a sticky, uniform mix of paper and pulp. To a batch this size I added a gallon of Elmer's milk glue to act as a water repellant, and we began plastering.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/5waddle8340.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1755)
The primary plastering tool consists of our hands. Balls of mud were turned into pancakes and lightly patted into place. We told the kids to press the mud into the grid and then pat it like patting a dog. Many light pats work much better to make the mud flow and smooth than a few heavy slaps. We then smoothed the mud using plastic container lids like those on cottage cheese.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/6waddle8352.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1754)
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/7waddle8346.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1753)
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/8waddle8358.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1752)
It took about three tarps of mud and one day to do a first layer on this structure. I like to plaster the outside on the first day and then let it dry. Do the inside and let it dry and then do the finish plaster.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/9waddle8375.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1751)
Here you can see the truth windows. When doing the finish layer, the paper will be finely pulped by adding a little extra water and really walking on it for a long time to reduce large bits of paper and the clay will be screened through a 1/8 inch screen instead of a 1/4 inch. Also the finish layer will have a higher percentage of white glue to make it more water repellant.
Note the feet seen in the picture below are bricks placed between the vertical strips of bamboo which were jammed into the ground when we started to weave the structure.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/data/500/thumbs/10waddle8376.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showphoto.php?photo=1750)
Ed raduazo