From veal to millwork

Larry,

(If you care) I doubt youur permitting authority would allow it for use as anything other than a bed material. The stuff I've seen is usually ground to 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" in size. It definitely has sharp edges to it as well.
 
that make good sence,, how fine is this recycled concrete? might look into that for a drive way??? or would it turn mush come spring rains??

It ranges from powder to 3/4" peices. Once it packs in, its in for good. It is DOT approved fill. I know a few places around here that use it in the driveways. The only down side it is can have peices of rebar in it if the magnet wasnt working good the day.
 
Speaking of concrete driveways, don't remember where I read or heard this, but black concrete drives are a new thing. Since many tax districts are using space satellite pictures of your property for tax purposes, people are using black dye in their concrete mix so they get taxed at the cheaper blacktop rate than for a concrete drive.
 
jonathan i was gonna look into camo colerd dye that way it and i would blend in:) thanks vaughn for you inquiry and as for permit aurthority i do pay attention to that, and will check it out in my area..:D:thumb:
 
I hate the weather. Wanted to seal the concrete today, but the sudden warm up made the barn sweat and the concete was wet. WE sealed up the barn tonight and fired up the heaters. Hopefully this dries out the barn. We did manage to cut the concrete tonight. One more thing off the list
 
Al, the longer you can keep the surface of the slab moist, the fewer surface cracks you'll get, and the stronger the concrete will become*. If you dry things out too quickly, you'll run the risk of cracks, and the finished surface won't be as durable.

Larry, I tried to get ahold of my dad tonight and he was tied up with something else. I'll try again tomorrow.




* Unrelated story time...Concrete gains strength the longer it's kept wet, and structures that stay wet for much of their life can become very, very strong. I did some testing once on a job where they had removed an old car wash, and the contractor was on the fourth or fifth day of trying to break up the old slab to haul it off. He'd bid the job figuring on having the slab out in a day.
 
Thanks Vaughn, it has be wet since friday about 9:30 pm. I no it is better to let it cure slowly,however I need to get it sealed and start putting machines into place. I hope six days is enough time.
 
Al, six days should have you in good shape. :thumb:

Larry, I had a chance to talk to my dad tonight and got some education. Here's the gist of it:

Recycled concrete like Al described (crushed concrete with everything from 3/4" chunks down to powder) would make a great driveway. You'd need to moisten is as it's placed, and compact it with a vibratory roller, if possible. He said that weeds would eventually be able to grow, but a good herbicide should keep things under control.

If you have a concrete batch plant nearby, another option that he's seen work real well is the material that gets washed out of the mixer trucks when they return to the yard. He called it "washout". With this stuff, the cement in the mix has not fully hydrated (hardened), so when it gets placed and compacted it sets up almost like concrete.

Either of these materials can also be helped by mixing in a bit of Portland cement before it's moistened and placed. He called it "Texas Two-Sack". Mix about two sacks of cement per cubic yard, and you'll have something the weeds will run and hide from. He says Texas Two-Sack can be done with just about any material (dirt, gravel, sand) and mixed with whatever equipment is available (loader, dozer, grader).

I also mentioned that you had a problem with the mud swallowing your gravel, and he said either of these materials would likely bridge the mud better than regular gravel, although it'd need to be more than a few inches thick. He said another trick to keep things from sinking into the mud is to use geogrid, a plastic grid that's typically used under base course in roadways. The two brands he recommended are Tensar and Miragrid. He said geogrid isn't cheap, but it's less expensive than replacing your gravel every year.

I hope this helps -
 
Vaughn funny you call it Portland cement. I always thought that was a brand name back in the day when i worked in the hardware store as a youngster.:rofl:

Will have to look up where and why that name is used.:dunno:
 
Little bit of intesting history from wikipedia


History
Portland cement was developed from natural cements made in Britain in the early part of the nineteenth century, and its name is derived from its similarity to Portland stone, a type of building stone that was quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England.[1]
The Portland cement is considered to originate from Joseph Aspdin, a British bricklayer from Leeds. It was one of his employees (Isaac Johnson), however, who developed the production technique, which resulted in a more fast-hardening cement with a higher compressive strength. This process was patented in 1824.[1] His cement was an artificial cement similar in properties to the material known as "Roman cement" (patented in 1796 by James Parker) and his process was similar to that patented in 1822 and used since 1811 by James Frost who called his cement "British Cement". The name "Portland cement" is also recorded in a directory published in 1823 being associated with a William Lockwood, Dave Stewart, and possibly[vague] others.[citation needed]
Aspdin's son William, in 1843, made an improved version of this cement and he initially called it "Patent Portland cement" although he had no patent. In 1848 William Aspdin further improved his cement and in 1853 he moved to Germany where he was involved in cement making.[2] Many people have claimed to have made the first Portland cement in the modern sense, but it is generally accepted that it was first manufactured by William Aspdin at Northfleet, England in about 1842.[3] The German Government issued a standard on Portland cement in 1878.[4]
 
Thanks vaughn i like the texas 2 sack idea maybe i could just pour some on my stones and let the rain mix it in and i would have a poor mans stone driveway??

I'd use something a bit more aggressive than the rain to mix it in, or else it'll mostly stay at the surface and not really give you much benefit. A tractor with a disc, rake, or blade should work. If you can mix it 6" to 12" deep, moistening it as you go, then smooth it out and compact it while it's still moist, you should have some good hard stuff when it all sets up. If your current gravel is only clean rocks and no fine material, you should probably also add some fines to help fill the gaps between the rocks when it's compacted. The fines can be sand, silt, or clay, as long as it's mixed well. That's where the crushed recycled concrete like Al used fits the bill. :thumb:

The Texas two-sack is along the same lines as soil cement. I've helped build flood control channel walls and dams made of soil cement. The Army Corps of Engineers gets all scientific with the stuff, but the hillbilly version sets up just as hard. :p
 
Well, if my back holds up(not doing good) we will be moving all the machines back into place on sunday. There are only two things in the shop I dont want to move again and that is the TS and the woodmaster 25" planer molder. Everything else will be fairly easy to move. Hopefully monday I will start on the new staorage cabinets and RAS/CMS station.
 
Well after 8 hours in the shop today, we manged to get everything that was at the shop placed. The outfeeed/assembly table is standing and will be finished tommrow.Sorry, no pics someone(me) forgot the camera today.:rolleyes: Will get pictures tommrow. Where hoping to have atleast the ts,bs and molders powred up by tommrow night. Need to finish the outfeed/assembly table and start giving everything a home. Things will be going slow over the next week as my back is acting up worse then ever:(.
 
Here are a few pics of how it looks right now. Work is going real slow. Going to see surgen in two weeks to see if i finished my back off or what is going on. Either way I will finish the shop and atleast run the orders and let my freind do the labor
 

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Looks like it's getting there, Al. :thumb: I'm envious of all your space.

Do take care of your back, though. I know firsthand how a messed-up back can slow you down, so don't overdo things and make it worse. ;)
 
Houston, we have a shop!!!!!!! Good job Al!! That is looking good. Ceilings look a little low, or is it just the pics? Do take care of that back, it will only get worse even without abuse as you get older. :thumb::thumb:
 
Jon, the ceilings are 9'7. Yeah it is getting closer. the miter saw bench is are table we use for finishing, just needed something for now. The plans for the shop got changed around alot. One of the biggest road blocks are my tempory shop visitors. A 10' sq area is being taken up by little onkers. My freind who owns the barn has four pigs in there and two of them are for the 4-H animal show and the other two are going in the freezer. Will post some better pics soon.

My back has been bad for 10yrs now, I just refuse to go on disabilty untill im forced. I have a implant in my back that has been atcing up and this is what im hoping is the problem. It is intresting trying to go threw metal dectors or security systems at stores. I can set them easily.
 
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