mud and stud and having a go.

[robgil]

this old door frame , possibly victorian was filled in with cement and wire gauze. i removed the cement and gauze and have decided to fill it back in with mud and stud following on from the best build award thread.
what do you think guys? ive ran out of string so i cannot Finnish it until i get some more.

ive used random bits of tree cut from the garden , not ideal but when it eventually does rot through i doubt i will be around to worry about it.

on the old original studs i found these little cuts , i think they were to straighten out the stud.

hopefully tomorrow i will be making up the daub for this.

 

[Flyfisher]

Fancy not bothering to make your own string. :wink:

I wonder if the sticks need to be thoroughly seasoned before adding the mud? Presumably, if freshly cut, they'll shrink and/or bend as they dry out. Will this cause the mud/daub to crack and possibly drop off in places? Perhaps it doesn't matter if you're happy to just smear some more mud/daub over any cracks that do appear (I'm assuming the original inhabitants were not in a rush to get the latest F&B paint onto their new walls).

 

[robgil]

noooo , please dont mention the f&b words.
i never thought about them needing to be seasoned , pants. i am going to be putting a lime plaster on this wall soon.

 

[Flyfisher]

The seasoning question was a genuine one; I don't know the answer myself and was hoping there'd be an expert out there with the answer.

Failing that, you'll soon be able to answer the question from direct experience, making you the expert.

 

[robgil]

i suppose the worst that can happen is my plaster might crack , but even cracking plaster might be a worst case scenario.
also ,as the daub dries it will shrink anyway so it will lose its grip on the wood as it shrinks , thus giving the timbers room to move.
i think i will take a chance on it. i am still a fair way off plastering so there should be lots of time for drying and shrinking to take place. i am still a fair way off making perfect daub so it usually cracks anyway, i always seem to make it too wet.

edit - the sticks were lying in my garden for a couple of weeks in the sun so they are semi dry.

 

[Flyfisher]

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[robgil]

thank you i will. how do you make your own string anyway?

 

[worms]

how do you make your own string anyway?

From nettles!

 

[biffvernon]

Not seasoned. Use the wood green and still bendy. Rather than tying with string it would be better to weave the green and bendy wood as in hurdles.

Honeysuckle was the Bronze Age ropemakers' material of choice.

We are now in the Balertwine Age.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Not seasoned. Use the wood green and still bendy. Rather than tying with string it would be better to weave the green and bendy wood as in hurdles.

Honeysuckle was the Bronze Age ropemakers' material of choice.

We are now in the Balertwine Age.

Looking good Rob - very interested in how this turns out.

Incidentally I have loads of balertwine if you need it - admittedly it's second hand, but should be good for another 30,000 years before it degrades too far. :evil:

 

[robgil]

hopefully daub is going on this evening.
i shall keep you guys posted.
great paper on string there , i might have a go at some willow string if i can find some willow.
bailer twine will do for now though.

 

[robgil]

right then , only a small amount of daub went on that evening before i was struck down in agonising and excruciating almost paralysing pain the like of which i hope never to feel again.
so i got some more daub on between last night and now , i have ran out of daub so i will finish it tomorrow. the daub that i was using last week sat on the floor in a tarp all week and i have to say it was great daub to work with , like plasticine. i usually make up my daub then leave it over night at the least before i use it but week old daub is great.
i used clay from the garden , sharp sand , straw from a local farm and some pea chalk from anglia lime. it went on pretty well and i ran out just before i finished the inside of the panel.

this is where i am at now.

some pics of the work in progress.

 

[Schoolmarm]

Looks very good and sounds very authentic.


Now, tell me about the pain as I was struck down by a terrible pain last week too. :shock:

 

[robgil]

kidney stones marm , four days of immense pain from two tiny teeny little stone thingys.

 

[Penners]

I was struck down by a terrible pain last week too.

four days of immense pain

Oh dear, you two. What's all this?

Rob, I know you've had kidney stones. And I presume the pain was the result of their travelling where only liquid is supposed to flow. OUCH!

'Marm, what have you been up to?

 

[Schoolmarm]

:shock: Kidney stone too!! I have NEVER experienced pain like it and I gave birth to one of my children with no pain relief.

The painful part was as it left my kidney and travelled down. It stopped hurting when it got to my bladder. A dreadful night at home and a day in hospital on morphine.

I just guessed from Rob's description that it was the same.

 

[Moo]

Please tell me what causes kidney stones, so that I can stop doing it.

 

[Penners]

If you really want to know, Moo, here's some light reading: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Kidney-stones/Pages/Causes.aspx

I believe men tend to get them more than women do (although poor 'Marm might disagree with that). I also understand that one of the prophylactic recommendations is to ensure that you drink enough water. But Dr Penners is as qualified on this topic as he is on brain microsurgery, so a chat with a doctor might be more approriate, if you're really worried.

 

[Moo]

Thanks for that, Penners. I'm comforted to learn that my risk of developing one of those nasties is very low indeed. All the same, I'll try to increase my liquid intake a bit, just to make sure.

 

[Schoolmarm]

Eeek! I take lots of vit d and also antacids.