How do I stop hairy paddles in my mixer?

[inwood]

I put in the lime putty, add the sand, leave for 20 minutes or so and then tease in the hair. All fine so far.

However when I come to empty the mixer I find huge clumps of hair wrapped around the paddles in the mixer and as a result when plastering keep ending up with the affectionately called 'dead mice' in the plaster.

Anyone found a way of avoiding the hair clumping up in the mixer (it's a baron forced action mixer as opposed to a bell mixer?

 

[ajbaker]

I have had the same problem when using a drill with a mixer attachment. The only solution was to mix the mortar/plaster properly, and then tease in the hair just before use - perhaps as you are working the plaster on the float. It certainly doesn't need a lot of mixing; just enough to ensure it is reasonably evenly spread throughout.

 

[piper]

IIRC one of the specialist lime mortar suppliers (I forget who) recommends spreading it on a board, sprinkling a third of the hair evenly over it, mixing it in by hand, and then repeating the procedure until all the hair is used. Sounds time-consuming, but so is all of this proper PP building work - that's why it's now so expensive, why so many of us do it ourselves, and why modern builders prefer to use plasterboard! In the "Olden Days" labour was cheap.

 

[Gervase]

A lot depends on the length of the hairs; the longer the hair, the more likely it is to bind up around the paddles of your mixer. You need longer hairs for ceiling work - up to a couple of inches - but for walls an inch is fine. If you're buying the compressed rolls of hair, saw the required length off with a breadknife before unwrapping the string binder.

 

[Penners]

the longer the hair, the more likely it is to bind up around the paddles of your mixer.

So short, curly ones are OK?

 

[Jane Smith]

When I first read the title of this thread it seemed to cry out for the return of Mr Grimsdale and the lovely Brunhilde, but I see he passed his baton on to Penners quite successfully.

 

[Nemesis]

Yes - I wondered how long it would take... I resisted the temptation. I feel so noble and high-minded.

 

[Penners]

I see he passed his baton on to Penners quite successfully.

I am not worthy...

 

[BMcD]

It all depends whether you're knocking up pre-haired plaster or adding the hair yourself. If the former then the best you can do is to clean off the paddles and either tease the hair back into the mix or add fresh hair to compensate (if it's a lot). If it's the latter then you should empty the mix into a bath and add the hair with the aid of a larry ( a garden rake will do) and rake the hair through the mix until you have a sufficient amount