[TheForge] TheForge Digest, Vol 125, Issue 3

Thu Jul 17 07:22:52 EDT 2014

On 7/14/14, 11:56 AM, wmullett at bright.net wrote:
> Andy,
>
> There is no "lateral stability" supplied from block columns.
This is a very temporary deal... perhaps a week.  Just long enough to 
get the trench dug and forms in place.
>    Block columns (depending on size) are not at all stable and are very poor even in compressive strength unless they are fully grouted.
By "fully grouted" you mean... ?
>   We use block pilasters in walls but they are braced by the wall and are grouted and sometimes reinforced.  If these are interior columns, the standard basement pipe column is probably a better and easier choice.
Columns I built were of high-strength material designed specifically to 
the task.
>
> 3,00 PSI concrete for residential footings is more than adequate.  Although current codes usually require 2 #4 bars in wall footings, there are a lot of houses built with no reinforcement.  And code still allows for simple rubble foundations.  Fiber reinforcement  is primarily used for crack control, not flexural strength.
I know I'm over-doing things, but that is the way I like to build, and 
cracks are not welcome here. :)

I may even grace the North (uphill) wall with some 5/8 rebar running 
horizontally every 12".  I've got hundreds of feet of it on the ground 
here... I suppose I ought to use it.
>
> ---- Original message ----
>> Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 08:36:07 -0400
>> From: "TheForge" <theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net> (on behalf of Andrew Vida <osan at netlabs.net>)
>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] TheForge Digest, Vol 125, Issue 3
>> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>>
>> Doing OK - almsot finished with final excavation bits and pieces. 240
>> yards of hard, miserable red shale clay dug out from beneath the house
>> by myself, a shovel, and a wheelbarrow.  House is on high-strngth
>> columsn I fabricated (18).  Will be putting in 8 block columns to give
>> lateral stability, then excavate a 3' trench to the outside of the
>> existing foundation so I can do the form work.  a 12" thick concrete
>> foundation will be poured with a fiber-reinforced 6Kpsi mix.  That way I
>> can forgo the misery of doing rebar.  This is compete overkill, but the
>> cost is only marginally greater and the benefit of never having to think
>> about it again is eminently worth it.
>>
>> Then drainage, floor, backfill, electric, plumbing, heat, and a 48"
>> fabricated and armored door mounted on 12" channel-iron frame welded
>> into the structure. :)
>>
>> My wife wanted a basement.  She's getting a basement.
>>
>>
>> On the sadder side, I accidentally killed Brownie on 6/24.  She was my
>> baby and I didn't watch her because I was busy doing the hay. She snuck
>> into the truck, went in back and I parked it and the heat killed her.  I
>> should have been more mindful.  The house seems so empty without her and
>> Oliver (border collie) has not been right since then, nor the cats, if
>> you can believe that.  Both are acting oddly since.  I feel miserable
>> about this.  It is like killing one of your own children.
>>
>> Other than that things are OK.  Busy busy busy is why I've not been
>> posting here.  This house thing has all my attention, and then there
>> will be other projects like building a shop and a greenhouse.  I have 4
>> 50' x 16" light gage I-beams from which I want to make a pyramidal
>> greenhouse of about 2K feet.  That would keep us in veggies year-round.
>>
>> Hope all is well by everyone.
>>
>>
>> On 7/2/14, 5:10 PM, Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer wrote:
>>> Both Carl Jensen (RIP) and EA Chase advocated plain old , cheap, Johnson furniture wax, hot,
>>> which has some  carnuba in it.
>>> I bought some carnuba in bulk years ago and have never used it.
>>>
>>> On Jul 1, 2014, at 6:30 PM, jerry Frost wrote:
>>>
>>> I did a little more reading about gathering carnuba  and if it wasn't
>>> brittle in the extreme it'd be a major PITA to harvest. They shake it from
>>> fronds after they dry.
>>>
>>> I use an old can of "Tree Wax" carnuba paste wax, I've had for a couple
>>> decades. The can is badly worn I can't read what else is in the mix but it
>>> stays tacky for up to half an hour but once set it's like armor on forged
>>> steel. I haven't seen Tree Wax on shelves in I don't know how long. Guys on
>>> Iforgeiron are saying "Bowling Alley Wax" is de bomb. It's Carnuba and the
>>> way they describe it in use makes me think they're very similar products.
>>> I'll have to give a can a try before my cherished stash of Tree Wax is used
>>> up.
>>>
>>> How are you doing Andy? Long time no read you.
>>>
>>> Jer
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: TheForge [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Andrew
>>> Vida
>>> Sent: Tuesday, July 1, 2014 1:14 AM
>>> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
>>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] TheForge Digest, Vol 125, Issue 3
>>>
>>>
>>> On 7/1/14, 2:27 AM, jerry Frost wrote:
>>>> Carnuba is hard and expensive, I imagine it's brittle if applied too
>>> thick.
>>>
>>> I have several pounds of carnauba somewhere.  It is literally like glass and
>>> brittle at almost any thickness.  Mixing with beeswax makes a very nice
>>> finish.
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