mr. j. c. the only reason i said sunflower oil is that the man who sold us the bags of clay suggested it cause it didn't smell like linseed woild, he said. i am definetly open to anything at this point. will study the tadelakt links. oh yes the sunflower sounded ok cause we burn it in our car and truck for fuel. really don't know how it will turn out. hope it's as good as some we've seen on this site and others. yes, this is our first
rocket mass heater. wish we'd had one in the big tipi we lived in for two years. over 30 years ago. time does fly, as they say. of course i'd recommend anyone build one. we hesitated for over a year because of wood floor and basement. but then i started thinking of sawing, hauling and splitting much
firewood for our small house, and we decided to do it. my wife has helped a lot and it was hard work for the
cob part of it, but much worth it already. it has been intimidating, but the alternative is not fun any more. too much wood hauling, etc. it seems to be drying out pretty quickly. i will be researching the finish layer(s) until it's dry. thanks for your words mr j c michael c.