Cassie Smith

Thank you much!

I have several huge 30+ year old Leyland Cypress trees that need to come down and was wondering if the wood  is worth keeping for anything other than furniture.

I am thinking about getting them made into 6inch poles for a lean to shed and didn't know if the wood would be rot resistant or strong enough for what I'm needing it for?

Anyone have any experience with this wood?

Thanks guys

Glenn Herbert wrote:If your husband works at a kaolin plant, you should have easy access to the highest quality clays. Mix kaolin with about three times as much sand, and straw to taste for tensile strength, and you should have excellent cob. It will likely have a gritty surface, unless you trowel it smooth while still just slightly damp, but should not be crumbly. There are earthen or lime plasters you can use as the finish coat for more durability; for those, you want to leave the cob surface quite rough.

It won't be hard like a brick, but with good clay it will take some effort to scratch it with a fingernail. More sand up to a point will make it harder to scratch.

There are a bunch of different kinds of kaolin found around here. I think that is part of what's throwing me off. Too many types. Each one has completely different uses/properties.

I really want to use red clay. To me its so much prettier and easier to use. The only thing is it's brittle and crumbles when dry. Its about 85% pure...maybe that's the problem? I don't have enough sand or coarse enough sand?

The kinds of clay I've tried are used in concrete. I read not to use concrete? Its also extremely hard to break the clay up. It doesn't absorb water to break down and is a PAIN to bust. Im thinking it may keep the walls from "breathing" properly?

The cob tests I've made with the red clay hold up pretty well to fire and hold their shape.
Once its dried it can crumble with little effort. I've seen several cob structures that look like red clay is being used so I'm confused as to why I'm having issues.

Thanks for your input!

I have read and watched so many videos and nowhere have I seen a description of what DRIED cob should feel like or how it strong it should be.
Will it flake?
Will it crumble when crushed?
Should it be gritty or smooth? (I'm guessing if its smooth there's too much clay?)
should it be hard like an actual brick?
Will it scratch?
Should I expect some flaking if I fire it?

I've made several "bricks" and have tested several different clays.
(Luckily, I live in Ga and my hubby works at a kaolin plant.) I think at this point I may be over thinking and getting overwhelmed by the different clays we have here.
I'm not 100% confident in my mix to start on a project just yet but maybe getting answers to some of those questions may help.

Any and all help is appreciated.

YES! Any clay will do, but typically the majority of cob is sand you only need 20-30% of the mix to clay, the rest sand and some fiberous material.

How would it compare to other clays used?

Not too sure as I've never worked with red clay but the end product will probably be red!

Have fun!

Thanks for the info!
My hubby dropped off a few bucket loads of sand and clay earlier, I now have a few sample bricks drying!  

New to cob and permies. I have read and tried to soak in as much info as I can about cob the past week or so but still have a few questions before I get started on my first project.

My question is can you use Red clay for cob?
How would it compare to other clays used?

The plan is to build a small "survival shelter" for my daughter to use as a playhouse. My first step is to build a small cob oven and build a back wall around it with shelves and a bench. The rest will be made of bamboo and have a living roof.