Papercrete Mixer Improvement

Yesterday I used my new mixer for the first time.  At first it seemed to take longer to mix the papercrete with the new mixer than it did by hand.  But after getting my routine down things began to speed up.  Today I took another step and modified the mixer so that I could turn the tub, making it easier and faster to mix. 

Wanda came up with the idea of making a turntable to set the tub on.  We have an old square end table that swivels and a small round table.  Her idea was to take the hardware from the end table and the top of the round table and attach them to the stand that the tub sits on to make a turntable. 

 

The more we get into this the harder it is to have to wait to get back to Terlingua and our property.  It would be so much better if we had more time to get away.  But we knew it would be this way at least until I retire next year. 

In the meantime we will just have to keep building our bricks.

Meanwhile, Wanda is learning to can food with a pressure canner.  She's starting with Pinto beans.  Before long we should have plenty of veggies from the garden to can.

Well, its been a long day.  Time to relax!

Testing New Papercrete Mixer

We found a new papercrete site the other day.  They used a drill press to mix the papercrete.  So we decided to try that ourselves with a drill press we bought some time ago and have hardly ever used.

First I had to build a sturdy workbench to attach the drill press to.  Another trip to the lumber store!

Once I got the workbench built I bolted the drill press to the end of it and attached the stucco mixer on the drill press.  I then made a small table to set the bucket on.  after several tries I finally got the table the right height so that the mixer just cleared the bottom of the bucket for good mixing.

I am still getting used to using this to mix the papercrete, so it is still slow going.  I don't know how much faster this will be than hand mixing with a hand drill, but it is saving a lot of wear and tear on my hands and wrists.

Testing the mixer