[Strawbale] Tashcrete again

[Chris Green]

Stone Tool wrote:
>     Actually Chris I probably will build with bales...... and I have 
> looked seriously at the large bales.........  The trashcrete is 
> something I find interesting, and it has the attraction that it could 
> be put up monolithically between my posts (16' apart) between forms 
> leaving a smooth finish and filling the gaps that would normally have 
> to be filled in other ways.
>     The reason I will most likely go with grass hay bales.... course 
> stemmey stuff that is not a particularly good feed....... is 
> simple...... the stuff is right here locally.   I will probably bale 
> it myself using a two wire wire tie baler which will allow me to 
> custom bale to match my spaces while maintaining good tight bales.
Locally obtained materials are the best choice, when possible. More than 
a few SB buildings do in fact have hay bales in the walls.
>    The walls will be 3' thick as the bales are 16x18x(whatever), and 
> the lower R value and my innate extremism incline me to double up.
Are you contemplating putting the long side of the bales at a right 
angle to the walls??? I haven't seen that done before.
>    <snip>   I'm damn sure not going to try to bale up nice tapered 
> bales to fill in the gaps between the stairstep and the slope........ 
> I've been wondering how you could rigidize a bale so it could be sawn 
> on an angle and simply put in place....... more flights of 
> fancy........  sodium silicate perhaps??? 
Perhaps if you mortared the bale sides and let it cure, and double tied 
it with wire, twine, or even banding straps: this would hold the straw 
in place while it's being cut, say with an old-fashioned hay saw if you 
can obtain (or make) one of these.

I'd think about building some tapered or wedge shaped forms and make 
some trashcrete blocks to fit the space. Something like that. The 
lighter the blocks are, the easier they'll be to maneuver in the close 
quarters near the roof so as to get the tightest possible fit.
However, time to do all this stuff comes into play... and time is not a 
renewable resource. Or if it is, nobody's told me... :-)

Cheers,

Chris Green.