WJ Seidl on wed 11 apr 07
WARNING! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
Well, the results are in, and they are very promising.
Not wanting to wait for days or weeks for my clay recycle to drip dry to be
ready, I have tried an experiment. (Yeah, yeah, patience is a virtue, for
those with the time to spend waiting )
I took four canvas tote sacks about 13 X 18 X 4 (it's what I have lying
around)and filled each of them about 1/4 full with sand (again, what I had
here). I folded the tops of the sacks over and spring clipped them closed in
four places each across the tops.
After soaking each of four sacks in water for about 1/2 hour, I put them
into our washing machine, carefully balancing them as to distance from one
another around the perimeter of the drum.
When partner got done screeching at me about trying to ruin a perfectly good
(almost new) washing machine and my subsequent cleaning of the floor (hey,
soaked sand bags drip dirty water...who knew? ), I closed the lid and
turned it on. The machine is a top loader, not a front loader, BTW. Yes, it
does make a difference .
The machine took a bit longer to come up to speed. Modern washers are not
designed to carry 100 pounds. BUT....
when the first spin cycle finished, I repeated it (Note to self...remember
to turn OFF the water to the machine FIRST)
and the contents of the sacks after the second spin cycle are passably dry.
My theory therefore has been proven...one can use a washing machine to
remove water from material in a bag.
Will this work on slaked-to-slip clay? Probably. Will it require its own
machine? Definitely. And more than one spin cycle, were one to leave the
controls alone. A few points I need to make though:
1) Putting the sand bag "logs" in a "vertical" position was NOT a good idea.
Horizontally along the bottom of the drum was a MUCH better solution. Top
load washers have no top bearing for the drum, and a slight variation in
weight can seriously unbalance a load.
2) Make sure that your fabric used for the bags is of sufficiently fine
material so that fine particle clay slop does not get passed through.
And no holes in it! Trust me. Hole free fabric only.
3) There will be some spillage from the clay water into the machine, and of
course, the water spun from the clay will go down the drain. This is NOT a
good thing, and I would not recommend it at all. Your drain will clog, your
septic system back up, and your spouse may just slap you silly. Not to
mention you're wasting all the "fines" that may just make awesome terra sig.
So, yes, the idea Michael Wendt proposed does indeed work, and work
well...with sand filled bags in a regular old washing machine. With clay
slip in bags? Well...yes, with caveats. We'll see. I'll continue to
experiment with it when I get up north.
Best,
Wayne Seidl
| |
|
