Okay today i am going to make experiment batch 3. Hopefully with the semi-success i gained from batch one and the lessons learnd from adding too much paper in batch two i now know the right combinations close enough to gaining the right mix this time round. Certainly from batch one i found the perfect retardant which gave me ten plus hours working/storage times. Then also gave me absolutely no issues when going into the molds. Indeed batch one had excellent drying times in the molds. Once in the molds batch one was dry to the touch and the molds could be handled/moved with ease at around ten minutes. The thickness of the mix 'in' the molds was around some four millimeters yet the drying times to touch/move remained steady at ten minutes.
Lessons learned between batch one and two showed me that essentially the paper pulp levels HAVE to be less than half of the plaster content. This i still need to access more clearly but this is a minor challenge i think. Clearly from lessons learned from batch two i discovered that equal paper pulp or more paper pulp than plaster no matter how slight increases drying times in the mold dramatically. Also in batch two again too much paper pulp creates shrinkage & serious cracking issues both in the wet and dried mix. Alongside the excess water retained by previously pulp paper causes water pooling in the lower hollow sections of the molded mix.
Now ordinarily plaster does not require air do cure, though it does require air to thoroughly dry out. With this in mind it would be safe to assume the water pooling in the molds of batch two would, should have little to no effect on curing times. Sadly the opposite appears to be true. Even though i know the reactions by very nature of the three elements in this mix. The paper pulp has a natural slow drying time, where as the plaster and ingredient 'X' have very fast drying times. Plaster of Paris of course having the fastest drying time between it and ingredient 'X'. Then again ingredient 'X' in it's normal form has a fast drying time too. This is itself retarded by the addition of the water to allow mixing of the three ingredients of course. It would be natural to assume that the plaster of Paris would overtake the other ingredients in precedent of curing/drying times due to its more favourable nature?
Saying that mixing elements of predictable natures can and often does produce unexpected effects at times when you would most least expect them.
So to round off this er!, what was meant to be a 'quick' update. I have created enough toilet tissue pulp to cover both current mix experiments and then later several projects. I am currently draining the paper pulp for an hour or so to reduce the water content hopefully to give me a more accurate measure of pulp during the mixing stage. Of course totally drying the paper pulp then re-shredding it dry would be the ideal solution. Sadly after the first roll of toilet tissue which i planned to pulp four my blender decided that it no longer wanted to play lets make a big mushy mess after roll one. I had to pulp the remaining three rolls by hand. Mercifully the tissue i am using was so thin i was able to pulp it in a large bowl by hand using a metal potato masher. All three remaining rolls that is at once. Again mercifully i purchased this brand of toilet tissue because of it's ease in pulping by hand or other wise.
More soon.
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