I was thinking if you make the blocks twice as high and twice as wide, you'd use roughly half as much mortar. Unless the mortar is aerated, it seems like you'd want to minimize the additional thermal bridging. Looking forward to doing my own experiments. Unfortunateky none of the soaps/shampoos people commonly use are available in my area.
@@MattWellandMiscMarvels Thanks Matt!, I saw few weeks ago that some pleople use some plastic to cover the mold 48"X48" then slice the block on small sizes. I made my mold for 6"X8"X15". The mold is covered with a gloss coating and it can be opened for a quick release.
Hi Matt, I am writing to you from Parana-Argentina, we have carried out several tests with different proportions of cement, foam and water and they all come off during drying. if you must use 1 kg of cement, add 500 milliliters of water and fill with foam until you reach 4 liters .... should I add sand to make it more resistant? thank you very much for your work.
Hi Julian, I'm not sure I understand the problem. Did the other replies address your concern? The quality of the foam is critical, ensure it weighs about 90g per quart.
hi thanks for the video im thinking of making some aircrete to pour into my birdbath moulds , do you think tapping the sides of the moulds would make for a smoother outer finish or would it not be a good idea because it could collapse the aircrete to much ?
One or two light taps to release big bubbles should be fine i think. I've thought about molding aircrete into various molds, having light but long lasting birdbaths and ornaments would be cool. You should consider getting some fibre for the mix, it only takes a pinch but makes a big difference to strength. The alkali in cement destroys glass fibre so be sure to get the right stuff. Please post back on how it goes, and or make a video!
@@MattWellandMiscMarvels cheers i will let you know once I try it , yes i really should put a sealant on my fibreglass moulds to protect them from the cement , thanks for that warning and I will let you know how the outer surface looks when I get around to making and aircrete birdbath once I get the time . hopefully it will be successful because I could sell them online and courier costs will be greatly reduced and handling will be so much easier , I will let you know how it goes
@@MattWellandMiscMarvels sorry i just reread and yes adding fibre would be a good idea the chopstrand fibre i use would be ok but id have to cut it up really small to add to the aircrete mix , i will also add some steel reinforcing
@@MattWellandMiscMarvels I'VE SN SOME INGREDIENT CALLED "CELLULOSE/ aka BLOWN INSULATION" WORK WELL TO INCREASE AIRCRETE'S STRENGTH. ADDS TO EXPENSE OF COURSE.. BUT IF STRENGTH IS THE "MAIN" GOAL/DESIRE..CERTAINLY WORTH IT. PLUS PRETTY CHEAP; HOME DEPOT/LOWES. RESPECTFULLY, MARGO-KansasCity
I was just thinking, if you make the blocks taller and wider, you'll need fewer blocks and ultimately less mortar to build a wall.
Yes, these blocks were too small and it was a lot of work to lay them. I settled on making 3" x 12" x 48" solid blocks.
probably not much less mortar.
I was thinking if you make the blocks twice as high and twice as wide, you'd use roughly half as much mortar. Unless the mortar is aerated, it seems like you'd want to minimize the additional thermal bridging. Looking forward to doing my own experiments. Unfortunateky none of the soaps/shampoos people commonly use are available in my area.
Nice! I want to do the same with playwood mold and I'm thinking to use some oil as release agent.
Hard shiny plastic or metal plate... I think additives like oil is just waste of time money and one more risk factor
@@contuitus no my friend, burned oil is used to release wood panels on basements here in México since i remember, i think more than 50 years.
I made plywood molds for my current blocks which are 3"x12"x48". I use a poly plastic insert and then no mold release is needed.
@@MattWellandMiscMarvels Thanks Matt!, I saw few weeks ago that some pleople use some plastic to cover the mold 48"X48" then slice the block on small sizes. I made my mold for 6"X8"X15". The mold is covered with a gloss coating and it can be opened for a quick release.
Those came out better than I thought they would, given all the thin walls etc. A lot of time to make them, though.
Yes, it'd be cool to have an automated system but done like this it is too labor intensive.
American Concrete Institute (ACI) allows us to use WD-40 on our molds.
You can use anything you want
@@prototype9000 😄
Hi Matt, I am writing to you from Parana-Argentina, we have carried out several tests with different proportions of cement, foam and water and they all come off during drying.
if you must use 1 kg of cement, add 500 milliliters of water and fill with foam until you reach 4 liters .... should I add sand to make it more resistant? thank you very much for your work.
Others are using perlite and a pint of fiber glass
@@laconeccionvideo add metal bars or mesh if you need strength
add metal bars or mesh if you need strength
Hi Julian, I'm not sure I understand the problem. Did the other replies address your concern? The quality of the foam is critical, ensure it weighs about 90g per quart.
bamboo can be aded
hi thanks for the video im thinking of making some aircrete to pour into my birdbath moulds , do you think tapping the sides of the moulds would make for a smoother outer finish or would it not be a good idea because it could collapse the aircrete to much
?
One or two light taps to release big bubbles should be fine i think. I've thought about molding aircrete into various molds, having light but long lasting birdbaths and ornaments would be cool. You should consider getting some fibre for the mix, it only takes a pinch but makes a big difference to strength. The alkali in cement destroys glass fibre so be sure to get the right stuff. Please post back on how it goes, and or make a video!
@@MattWellandMiscMarvels cheers i will let you know once I try it , yes i really should put a sealant on my fibreglass moulds to protect them from the cement , thanks for that warning and I will let you know how the outer surface looks when I get around to making and aircrete birdbath once I get the time . hopefully it will be successful because I could sell them online and courier costs will be greatly reduced and handling will be so much easier , I will let you know how it goes
@@MattWellandMiscMarvels sorry i just reread and yes adding fibre would be a good idea the chopstrand fibre i use would be ok but id have to cut it up really small to add to the aircrete mix , i will also add some steel reinforcing
@@MattWellandMiscMarvels I'VE SN SOME INGREDIENT CALLED "CELLULOSE/ aka BLOWN INSULATION" WORK WELL TO INCREASE AIRCRETE'S STRENGTH. ADDS TO EXPENSE OF COURSE.. BUT IF STRENGTH IS THE "MAIN" GOAL/DESIRE..CERTAINLY WORTH IT. PLUS PRETTY CHEAP; HOME DEPOT/LOWES. RESPECTFULLY, MARGO-KansasCity
@@poochna9229 add some bamboo
I know its lighter, but, is it more durable than regular block?
No. You would ultimately need to reinforce the aircrete block wall with some sort of mesh to add tensile strength.
@@Thoracius or
or put bamboo into a pre cast panel