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Klaymen

Has anyone used or considered using a traditional cob mix for the dirt in compressed earth bricks? I saw that the guy who replicated the CEB press was having problems finding a good soil to use. Seems like cob would be perfect for this.

dorkmo

what is cob?

Klaymen

Cob is basically clay, sand, water, and straw (as a binder of sorts).

Here's a somewhat good introductory video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_lsolsEyN4&feature=related

And here is a decent forum post that discusses type of straw to use: http://www.permies.com/t/10370/green-building/it-good-bad-or-ugly#94719

The whole Permies forum is filled with people who would be willing to answer any questions that you may have.

tecan

my mom grooms dogs, i got the idea of adding hair into the bricks for extra strenth and insulation.... anyone wana test it ? :)

DavidIAm

There are much narrower tolerances on soil used for cob and adobe than for compressed earth bricks. The mechanical compression makes adequately strong bricks with a looser quality control on the input. The reason not to use cob mix is that it is harder to make than a tolerable earth brick mix.

Mike_Apostol

Tecan, my understanding is that you want as little organic matter as possible as it will over time disappear/disintegrate and create voids in the bricks which can lead to reduced strength. Now something like fiberglass strands would be interesting, but the bricks are quite strong already.

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