[Ferro List] One-off LFC

[Christopher Glasspool]

Colin & Friends,
 
Your idea seems reasonable enough. Here are some other possible options:
	* Make a rib that goes smack down the center of a piece(s) of lath, so that mesh protrudes from the sides. Make the rib long enough that a portion of it goes into the ground (becoming a post foundation). After erecting the ribs in their holes, hog ring the exposed netting together and then force the posts apart before back-filling, so that the exposed mesh becomes screaming tight. Then back fill the post portion of the ribs. Now laminate onto this basic rib and mesh structure.
	* Many people have asked whether fc could be incorporated onto an existing stud framed building, but few if any have pondered a newly framed structure, built with fc lamination in mind. A 2 X 4 framed building could be sheathed with OSB or plywood. Foam insulation could then be stapled and glued onto the outside of this, and fc applied to the outside taking all the stresses that normally would load a framed building. This type of construction might garner greater code acceptance, and be easier and cheaper to place utilities and mechanical throughout.
	* Earth could be mounded up in the shape needed and LFC could be placed over the mound. An opening needs to be left somewhere big enough for a tractor to get in a nd remove the earth when finished. Maybe a concrete bond-beam with stubs could be first applied to the construction area for a reference for the general floor plan and finished bottom.
	* I've seen photos from Nigeria where fc rain storage jars were formed by using sacks of grain chaff as a mold for the outer fc layer to be formed against. In my town, free rough tree compost is available for the taking. It could be super sacked and placed in the needed mold shapes for rooms, etc. This has the advantage of mulching the lot as the forms are removed after plastering.
	* Tilt up concrete construction is available here, and used for fruit production warehouses. Bond beams that encapsulate the ends of fc panels could be used for some lighter construction methods.
	* Lloyd Turner's pneumatic forms could be utilized for LFC techniques. - chris
From: colin <cking at peak.org>
Subject: [Ferro List] Formwork for one-off LFC
To: list at ferrocement.net, cking at peak.org
Chris Glasspool mentioned the need for methods to make forms when using 
LFC.  The cost of forms is easy to justify when one is building several 
identical pieces.  The savings in time and the reduction in frustration 
make them very worthwhile.  But single units of complex shape can also 
be done in LFC.  Last summer at the introductory class we made thin 
elements, two layers of 2.5 lbs / square yard galvanized x-metal lath 
embedded in 1/4" cement mortar, that are quite flexible.  The piece that 
I have here at home flexes about 3/8" in twelve inches when I put my 175 
lbs on it.  Planks that are 8 feet in length should be quite bendable.  
(No I haven't made them yet but I don't forsee major complications.)  If 
thin planks were edge shaped as per the drawings that Lloyd Turner has 
on his web pages they would form a simple shape mold that would support 
more laminations and become part of the final product.  If the edges 
were shaped to the plank pattern of a lapstraked boat you would have a 
complex shaped one-off mold.  Colin


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