Plaster Practice

After spending another special week at Canelo (www.caneloproject.com) being inspired we came home wanting to practice. First I had to make a few practice panels similar to what might be found in Japan where the wall surface abuts to timber posts.

I also made two small 2' x 2' panels

With these practice panesl now mounted, every other day we spend at least one session applying MUD using our various Japanese Trowels. The goal is to make a perfectly flat wall with no spilling and clean edges. We have a ways to go.

Hanging out in our Pillar Ville plaster workshop area is all about playing with clay, sand and straw. There is always extra so a good excuse to make clay straw blocks, similar to Adobe. One day when we have enough something can be mortared up like a bench.

Buckets of finely sifted clay and sand. Hard to practice thin flat walls when chunks are in the mix.

I sometimes call our workshop area Bucket Ville. When in full swing we never seem to have enought clean empty ones.

Busy busy work tables

Bye Bye

Bye bye trailer, well sort of. Spent half of yesterday and half of today fabricating with a hand angle grinder and my welder a privacy fence out of old pipe and rusted corrugated roofing at the east end of our Ryoanji wall to block the view.

Look close behind the Nigra bamboo

Now you can begin to see it

Done

Back side, the view I don't want to see

Snow Shed

Don't ya think every train layout needs a snow shed?

Not only a snow shed but trees too

At some point snow on the roof

Basic construction 

Rear view

Front view

Last view

LanderLand Shop

Thought it would be fun to show the construction of  "My" shop again. Some of these photos are on our web site but how quickly we forget.

The story goes like this. We burnt down the shed that was once sitting on this site. After a couple months of clean up it was time to build another one. A friend use to haul garage doors and from time to time would drop off old panels and 2 x lumber so the wall systems were basically free. Thanks Glen.

2 x 4 tilt up construction on a 16 x 16 slab on grade

First 16 foot panel in place

Ridge pole

Home built header

Ridge pole on the East end

More panels going up

A view from years ago.

B and V House

Thought I would show a few old photos of the second straw bale house I built here in Kingston. A very tricky foundation that had to be carved out of the rock with no soil to pound stakes for back bracing.

Placing the concrete

Corner post attachment detail with 2" perimeter foam

Forms removed

Steel up and beginning the truss work

Starting the metal roof

Bale work

Ready for cement stucco