Love your videos. Version 2 of the shredder is OK. I was a manufacturing engineer that specializes in this kind of factory enhancements. The insulation bag is perfect. The use of an electric lawn mower is great. Here are the changes I would make. 1) Redesign the cowling/container. I would use something like the plastic 55 Gal drum but go clam shell design. (2 piece) fitted for the engine/chopper and seals well. Instead of top opening I would make the container longer and use a top-side feed port. Make it easy to change parts. 2) mount the container high(ceiling/wall), to do this right the top of the container would need to be about 15 feet up off the ground. This is to create a continuous column feed. 3) add a diagonal feed conveyor. 4) then hang the insulation bag from the bottom of the container. You want the exit port of the insulation bag to fit the height of the cement mixer.
Ingenious upgrades Dennis! In your suggestion #2: Question, is the reason for this structure change to use gravity to naturally drop the styrofoam into the white insulation bag column? In your suggestion #4: Question, is this solution to completely knock out the moving of the styrofoam from the white insulation bag into the grey garbage container, and then having to pour the styrofoam from the grey garbage container into the cement mixer? If so, great idea, But then how would he measure the amount of styrofoam that is being fed into the cement mixer?
@@maigematthews5620 You could use two sliding gates , open the first one to fill the 45 gallon bucket , close the first then open the second to dump your 45 gallons of EPS directly into the ribbon mixer , you need to hoist them all up quite high but it would reduce spillage and increase the speed between batches. I would use a grout pump to pump directly from the mixer into your formwork too.
Fantastic system now! I found that when I added the leaf blower to the shredder discharge, it created a vacuum and thus it was not only less messy, it also filled my large pillow case to the brim.
These videos are just awesome. Stephen: you definitely epitomise DIY, and I am most impressed by your endless ingenuity. My only contribution is this: regarding castors, my rule now is that everything in a work area that can go on castors, does go on castors. If there are too many, or too heavy items sitting on the floor, then the workspace is inflexible, and you end up discouraging yourself from moving items around. In my case, that includes several work tables, a drill press, 4x pallet rack units, press, etc.
This is what TH-cam and the internet is all about. Thank you for showing us your DIY tinkering. You're making me want to do this, although I don't have a use for it until I buy land. Great designs and use cases. Awesome.
Great upgrade! Much cleaner and user friendly. Here’s a couple of ideas. 1. Set the box of styrofoam chunks on a table beside the shredder so you don’t have to bend over each time to get more pieces. Easier on your back and saves time. 2. Put a wye in your discharge tube about a foot into the flexible tube. You can order a hi volume in-line fan sized for that size of tubing from grower supply houses that will alleviate the clogging issue.
You're going to need a lot of EPS beads if you want to build houses. Convert chipper shredders like the Troy Bilt Super Tomahawk, add a blower. Keep up the good work!!
Nice refinement! This really is awesome work. Now all you have to do is turn that mower sideways, rework the chute to enter from the side & you can mount it on a vertical sliding mechanism to raise & lower it for bag height/easy loading of new bags. Inside the chute, just add a brush you can push pieces through to ensure it does not escape for good measure. Looking forward to your next video
I was inspired by your first shredder and made one of my own. I needed 1/4 screen for making blocks (aka -perfect block clone) To help with the chopping, I only have 1/2 the plywood deck open with the half over the exit covered to create a "grinding chamber". i used a 55 gallon fiber drum that fits exactly the 20" mower. My plywood shoot has a 45 degree entry port with the opening perpendicular and having heavy vinyl strips to prevent the blowback. I use the harbor freight dust collector as the added suction enhances the extraction thru the screen. My next upgrade will be adding brushes to the end of the blade to force particles thru the screen as on of your viewers suggested. I too added a switch. Be warned with the single pole switch, the braking after turning off is disabled. I am researching momentary switches to re-enable that function. I have made 2 blocks so far, but am still refining the formulation a both came out a little bit high on the density. Also, I use inexpensive recycle bags on the dust collector and collect the proper amount for one batch (45-55 gals). The recycle bags are fine since the particles of foam don't puncture.
If you add a second blade to the mower and mount it rotated about 60 degrees from the original blade you'll get finer beads. I also recommend adding fiberglass strands mixed into the styro aircrete.
Hey mate , i really wanted to thank you for your idea. I've spent almost 1500 USD on shredder which unfourtunately didn't worked so good, also i've spent a lot of time thinking how to shred this waste for cheap. Now i finally made this 30USD thing by myself today and it actually worked. Now finally after a lot of failures i can finish my projects. Thank you so much mate👍👍. Cheers from Lithuania.
@@AbundanceBuild i have also researched that mixing 160l simple cement mixer. In the ratio of 25kg portland cement 52.5N , 15kg simple sand, saponified wood resin 70ml, fiber 70g, water 10liters and this shredded mass to the top. Mixing these components you can make really strong warm and cheap concrete. I'll add you a video cause i thought this may be interesting for you. I was amazed by the results.
@@AbundanceBuild anyway this guy did some testing before in his videos and now he already build 1st floor from this stuff and it actually holds. This mix is almost same strong as gas beton blocks and it absorbs 4 times less humidity. It is also fire resistant and warm.
i will love to watch a video, step by step, in how u build the shredder from the beginning to end. for all of us who do not have a clue in how it is done...thank you for sharing information with all of us.
@@AbundanceBuild that is good but that means u probably will charge more than 5 dollars for the course right? So only those with extra money will be accessing the curse...in other words i will be left out in the cold wishing to learn how is done. thanks
I don’t know if you have thought of, heard about or already tried this, but I think you could extrude the Styrocrete instead of trying to pump the slurry. If you use an auger something like a post hole auger from a pto inside the right size pvc pipe. You can experiment with different size discharge holes that would effect the density of the slurry. To get the slurry compressed before it enters the form so the consistency of the wall would be the same. A hopper and a Extruder with a hose and you could pump the slurry into a hole in the bottom of the form until it comes out a hole in the opposite side at the top of the form.
I watched the first vid a while back and I liked the idea but was taken aback a bit by the mess. This in turn... you can really call "New and Improved"! Perseverance, focus and ingeniuty! Kudos to you sir. This is in my bucket list of projects to do. Thank you for sharing!!
@@AbundanceBuild I just did! BTW, I'm prepping to build in Argentina, the crunching poverty down there makes this an ideal system for the people that can't get out of the mental box of "concrete and bricks" because that's all they ever knew while EPS goes to the landfills. Having looked into Aircrete and Papercrete the only system that may compete with Styrocrete IMHO is (saw)Dustcrete for its simplicity and performance. Looking forward to your next vids.
I love the concept and I could see myself one day collecting scraps from work to replicate this someday. But have you ever rented an insulaton shredder with the hose attachment? Maybe taking one of those machines and attaching an extended feeding tube like you made out of wood. But put heavy rubber ribbons inside, almost like mop hairs all hanging down so you can feed it but when it burps the foam should not spit back. Another thought for combining the styrofoam with the concrete is keep it in the bag but fashion a mattress inflator to a bigger tube with a way to secure it to the bag. That way you can shoot the foam out of the bag into the concrete hopper. Also maybe put a protective hood onto the concrete hopper to help minimize losing foam to the wind. And I see in the comments someone mentioned the concrete spray hose. And I think that would be neat to see for sure. I mean 3d printing housing is on the rise. Great idea though for real man. I hope you have many successfully structures!
Farmers get seed to be planted in what they call “Super Sack”. They do not reuse them. They have 4 hanger loops it’s about a 5’ x 4’ cube bottom funnels down to a 6” tube. 1 1/2 cubic yard.
Thank you So much. You are an awesome inspiration. I’ve been following air Crete for a long while now and seeing this development with the Styrofoam is huge. I just bought a small patch of land and looking to build some houses on it and this is gonna be my main construction method.
I'm in the same boat Joshua!! - Bought the land last year and now just bought $1500 of tools and $2000 of materials to begin my journey. I've promised my wife to build her a house and I'm also in need of an office outside the house. This morning I was watching Aircrete Harry (Wonderful resource!!!) who mentioned Sephen's "Stypro Air Crete" as a good method to avoid unstable aircrete. Now I feel like maybe I should build one of these contraptions!!!
@@rodneygiles3792 I’m right there with you guys… I have purchased all of my land properties first, and now I’m looking into affordable building solutions. What with today’s prices on houses and even building materials skyrocketed, we are only left to find alternative solutions. Here are some interesting ones that I found: Enclosed carport transitioned to a storage shed Large storage shed transitioned to a small homestead house Large carport transitioned to a Barndominium Storage sheds made from wooden pallets then styrofoam spray insulated
Sir, I am from India and amazed at the great work you are doing to save our environment. Could you kindly enlighten as to how to convert the granules to foam. Warm regards
Thanks for watching! If you look at our most recent video we collect foam waste from one of those factories. We are not experts in making virgin foam, but it appears you heat the plastic beads and blow air into it making it 98% air! This is what makes it so effective as both insulation and a building material!
I’ve been watching all of your videos. I’m going to be building a house soon and want to do it as cheaply as possible. Here’s my ideals on the shredder. In stead of a lawn more I would use a 110 volt, one horse power motor on the electric switch. The with pilot bearing and pulleys. I would get the speed needed to shred the stereo foam. To get smaller sixes you might try a mulching blade or on with barbs or spikes welded and balanced on the blade. Just use one of those lawn mower blade balancers. If you use spikes make sure they are sharp just like the blade and it will rip them better. The thing about using a plain electric motor is the cost as compared to buying a new lawn. Mower. You can get the deck at almost any junk yard. Later
I wish you made more content. Your material is so good! Your very likable and great at explaining things. Random question for you: How long does it take for the styroAirCrete to fully cure?
After I watched your first video I went around telling everyone "This man used Styrofoam, STYROFOAM! To build a shop with!" I was like Hyde on That 70's show. Lol awesome!
Very great job. It reminds me of taking my dad's old tools and repurposing them for different builds. I'm new at all this and want to start soon. I wanted to recommend on your presentation. This may be easier said than done, but when you were running the video of your "before" as full screen and your talking about it comparing to the New. I think if you could put the video in the upper right quad since most your angles in your recordings I've seen that area isn't framing what you are working on. I'm gong to go back and watch some of your older projects. But I really want to use the aircrete and stucko for under my deck to make it a Work Space all year round and have it look better than the wood. Thank you Cliff
use a 5 gallon bucket as your input shoot. it has a 10-12" diameter and you can get them for free from construction sites or a few bucks at lowes. just cut out bottom and use angle brackets to attach to your plywood lid. get a battery powered sprayer and mix water with fabric softener. spray on foam beads to reduce static charge.
@@AbundanceBuild I used the 5 gallon bucket idea on my modified Stephen Williams foam shedder V2 and it works perfect. You have to leave 2 inches protruding below the bottom of the mounting deck to stop the foam flying out. I use a leaf vacuum to cut the off take from the lawnmower to get 1/4 beads. I also use bounce sheets suspended in the hopper and it takes all the static out...nice smell too LOL. Thank you again Stephen.
Try using a mulching blade. The "wings" on the back of the mulching blades create a lift that help shred the grass into smaller pieces. I'd bet it would help shred the foam smaller also.
You need to have 2 blast gates side by side to minimize fluff escape. Also maybe add those mulching springs to the mower blades. The reason the smaller side screen was working for Greg is his dust collection system helped pull it out of the mower shredder...
Before I get into the engineering geek session I first have to give praise where it's due. I just watched all your videos again after a shout out from Aircrete Harry mentioned your "StyroAirCrete" as a solution on stabilizing aircrete in his recent video comparing compression at various depths. (The 12ft column video...) This is looking more and more like my wife's food processor. The main differences are that the chute is offset and the blade is closer to the lid. I have a sneaking suspicion that finer chopping is probably a result of these two things. I wonder if a better design for this use case would be to create an X of 2x4s under the lid to stop the big pieces from jumping around like popcorn. That would also block congestion in the center of then enclosure where backup is more critical. Keep posting updates. Very exciting...
I have watched all of your videos and will soon be building a shed using this method. Curiosity question: Who is Paul McDowell? You mentioned him a few times in your videos and I'd be interested to view his content to see what his set up looks like.
Great videos! STATIC! 😱😆This is a little long, but worth the read if it works. I have a thought about the STATIC issue with the styrofoam. I used to stuff pillows with the mini styrofoam beads (extra large ones are now used in beanbag chairs), and the static was a big, frustrating issue. So, I put a dryer sheet in a spray bottle of water to mist inside the store-bought bag-and shake it good and hard-before making a larger opening to transfer the beads into the pillow, and sure enough, NO MORE STATIC. WooHOO! If Static Guard, Downy Fabric Softer (laundry anti-static liquid) don’t interact with the foaming solution in the StyoAirCrete, this could be a possible option you could try for dealing with the static issue. Another thought, for under $30, you could install a patio “misting” nozzle, the kind used for cooling off while sitting outside in the heat of the summertime, inside your system somewhere, maybe even as you feed it into the mower shredder from a tank instead of a garden hose, in order to prevent the static issue before it even gets blown into the large bag. If this is something that breaks down the foaming solution chemically once the misted styro bits are added to the whole mix, I guess it wouldn’t work, but it might be worth an experiment-maybe try a small batch of foam spiked with a hint of fabric softener just to see if that batch collapses more than would a batch without it, side by side. Even when I am opening packaging full of static-y styrofoam and bits get everywhere, a fabric softener misting bottle on hand makes cleanup a lot easier and less aggravating. I might even try this experiment myself😉 in styroaircrete. When I saw your entire shop snowed with the shredded stuff, my head instantly went to fabric softener. There may be an organic type of fabric softener that could be used if you are allergic to the artificial fragrances in it like I am.
Don't know if you could use bigger bags but they used to make industrial strength plastic bags to put the big round hay bales in to make silage without a silage pit. Those bags were really long. Can't remember exactly but I bet 50 to 100 ft or more. They were meant to stay outside in the field for months or a yr or so. So if you wanted to grind enough Styrofoam for a whole house b4 you started or wanted to have a Styrofoam grinding business or just wanted to get the grinder and bag out of your shop, this might work. The bags were a little bigger around than diameter of a round hay bale. Wouldn't have to use the whole length of the bag. Check at a big farm supply store or a big haying equipment dealer to see if they still make bags to make round bale haylage.
Have you ever heard of the Hagfish? I’m guessing that that it’s slime could improve aircretes structural integrity while holding the styrofoam into manageable clumps during the production phase.
Nice work will be do the mod to mine and the insulation bags are great idea. I built my grid out of 1/4 in. round bar vertical to the deck spaced 3/4 of in.
Thanks for the continued postings! I am curious -- with the Styrofoam added to the aircrete, have you ever thought of also adding steel meshing to the inside of the mixture when making the panels? It seems that would strengthen it's vertical structure, wouldn't it?
He does have rebar that he installs into the forms, after pour the mixture. And when it’s dried, he does line the outside with fiberglass/steel mesh when applying the stucco for structural integrity purposes. I think if anything, we will have to wait on his video postings of pressure tests that he’s been wanting to do.
what a great idea... I have been mulling this over for some time and never thought of using my extra electric lawnmower... I wonder if using a thatching blade would have an impact? I will be making one of these soon
If I was trying to get a finer shred, I'd build a raised platform to put the shredder on and have the bag below it. I think I'd help with the flow using a finer mesh.
Uniform individual beads for most applications would be best. Likely require two stage operation. Wider outlet screen here to solve plugging screen. Then the batch is run through a rotating drum (expanded lath screwed to plywood disks mounted on pillow blocks. This would run close to another piece of expanded lath). You have solved the mess problem, and this would surely mean more engineering, but those individual beads sure would be beautiful!
Few things.. Look up how foarage choppers and wood chippers work. Most have a centrifugal blower attaced. Cyclonic air filters are your friend a good design will let you continously fill big plastic bag after bag or even better build a silo for it.
Stephen. Have you tried a hybrid mix. I was wanting to try a papercrete/styrocrete mix. maybe go 50-50 on the paper pulp and the styrofoam. The paper pulp fiber locks together and the styrocrete should give you a much lighter mix with better insulation than straigt papercrete. The idea is a stronger material (due to the fibers locking) and a better insulative product. I haen't tried it yet. have you?
Stephen, great videos, very thorough and well made. I can't say enough good things. I wanted to know, have you done a compressive strength test on the styro aircrete or any other strength tests? If it can handle even a fair amount of load, I've got a myriad of projects I want to build with it.
Just got a 4x8x6' load of styrofoam panels from a hot tub spa repair place. Another source of free foam. takes just a minute to rip off old vinyl material and get the foam inside.
Not sure if folks have suggested already, but here's my thoughts, for what they're worth: (Sorry, it's gonna take a bit to type. In bed sick with the "you-know-what"....) - Take the mower completely apart so you just have the motor unit, shaft, blade and electronics. Cut a 3/4" plywood disk the O.D. of the top of your barrel PLUS 2". Cut a 1" thick ring out of plywood (make two rings, 3/4" ply, one should do two would be better) You can economize your sheet by making the ring in 1/4 sections as the sections can be nested on the sheet. The ring(or all the 1/4" segments) will have the I.D of the barrel top and the O.D. of the disk. (Can sand back the I.D. a bit so it's not super tight to the barrel top O.D.) Screw this/these to the first disk. Make another disk with an O.D. (or just shy) of the I.D. of the top of the barrel. Screw this, centered on to the first disk. This will make a channel that the barrel lip will sit in. Lay some sticky backed foam tape in the bottom of the channel to make it air tight. In the center of this "Lid", drill a hole this dia. of the mower blade shaft. Mount the mower motor to the 'lid' using the existing mounts on the motor (you may need to make some custom wood blocks/frame to do this, if the motor doesn't have built in flange mounts to just bolt it direct to the plywood). Wire the on/off switch like you did. - For the exit shoot, cut a rectangle hole in the barrel, just below the blade and make a shroud so the direction of the exiting material comes straight off the wall of the barrel in a flat plane, or close to it. For reference of what I mean, look at how the outlet of a ready made wood shop dust collectors impeller housing is designed, or how an old fashion, hand cranked forge blower is shaped (also a lot like the turbo in a car engine). Also look up "Thien Baffle" ( woodgears.ca/dust_collector/separator.html ) This outlet position with give much better air flow and less resistance. - Make sure your blade is oriented so it pulls air in the right direction (sucking in from your in-feed point) You could try to tweak the blade a bit to increase it's fan blade shape for more suction. ------ con't next -------
- To get finer shred on the styro: Add bolts to the blade on the in-feed side. 1/4-3/8" bolts mounted through the blade. Maybe 2" apart. These "teeth" should provide more shredding action. The blade may be tempered back enough to be able to drill it. If not, you can try spot annealing. Meaure and mark wear your holes for the bolts are going to go. *** These holes must be exact and equal on both sides and the bolts/nuts/washers must be equal as well. Any weight different from one side to the other is going to put the blade out of balance, cause vibration and could be a big problem!*** Use a center punch or small drill bit to make a dimple on each mark. Take an old, large size drill bit or, better yet, an old carbide tip masonry drill bit and run it in reverse, in the dimple. This will create heat and change the color of the steel. This heat will soften the spot with little propagation to the rest of the blade, so it retains it's hardness. Once tempered back, you should be able to drill your bolt holes. 2" bolts should be plenty. Maybe 3 per side. And definitely use nylock nuts! With the smaller size styro particles, you should be able to use smaller expanded sheet like you friend used. Plus, with the expanded sheet, you can bolt that to the outlet, inside the barrel, rather than glue. Better for playing with mesh size and maintenance. - You may want to play with having a larger outlet size. This might slow the exit velocity, letting the styro remain in the shedder for just a bit longer to get shredded. - Instead of a barrel, you could use a big rubbermaid garbage can. ----- con't-------
- Static dissipation: Try grounding the barrel with copper wire. Also could try introducing water. Run a pipe into the barrel from a kettle to intro. steam. Or get one of those ornamental pond vaporizers in the barrel. - Could also try adding a second blade, perpendicular to the first to get more chopping action. Might be the easiest thing to try first.
Stephen, have you experimented with the sharpness of the mower blade? Perhaps a sharp blade cuts part of the Styrofoam to dust while a duller blade might generate more evenly sized balls. Of course this is just a wild guess.
Get two blast doors and some duct to match the volume required for a batch of EPS-CRETE then you can eliminate the measuring step and go straight to your mixer, no mess, no mister required.
So you would take a length of duct pipe to see the volume of each ft of duct. So if you figure its 5 ft worth put a gate valve on bag and one after five ft of duct. So fill the five ft section then close to bags valve and empty the pipe with the he right amount every time.
I was thinking the same thing. Just weigh out enough styrofoam to make 55 gallons of shredded material, feed it in and you're done. No need to transfer from a bag to the barrel to the mixer.
The Italians would have loved to have that old styrofoam when they were building the pantheon they had to use pumice and little air-filled clay pots to reduce weight near the top of the dome
Thank you for doing this because it has been juicing up my brain to think of all the possibilities this styro aircrete can do. Where can I get more details on how to put together/install the light switch box with the cord, etc... that comes with electric mower. In other words, I need an explanation for "dummies"...lol. I did see some on this video, but I need a little more details of what to buy and how to convert/connect each part. Thank you.
I was thinking about purchasing a used 13 amp leaf mulcher/shredder, then installing a high lift lawn mower blade to pull material in, and pushing it out a fine metal mesh beneath the blade where the material exits the bottom. Any thoughts?
I have a Quonset hut-style building in Arizona that I'm considering covering with wire mesh and shooting styrocrete out of a plaster gun. What do you think about shooting this stuff? I'm not too concerned about cracking. Also is pumping a problem, you've probably already done that but I figured I'd ask. Thanks for engaging content.
Styrofoam has even more utility than just lightweight/insular aggregate. Its an effective epoxy resin substitute when dissolved in acetone, paint thinners, or even gasoline. Different solvents provide different results in the finished product. Turpentine is ideal for impact surfaces because the pine resin allows for ongoing flexibility whereas acetone will yield a very hard, but brittle, crystal clear plastic. I’ve been remodeling a home using only trash from the beach and styrofoam is beyond useful.
amazed with the work and proficiency of your labors and test. enjoy watching you. do you have any videos that show the mixing of styroaircrete? or even your aircrete gun?
Would it be worth foregoing upsizing your chute in favor of installing a foam cutting wire on the top edge? Just take your foam and press down and the cut piece falls directly into the chute in one motion.
We thought about that as well. In theory it seems like it but in our experience with wire cutting Styrofoam it is a slow process. We fill up bags quickly this way! And we need to fill a lot of bags to build a house
@@AbundanceBuild Well, for whatever it's worth, I don't have the beautifully conceived set up you do (there's a reason I ended up here tonight,) but I've been cutting my styrofoam up on the band saw. I'm sure with only a little thought you could rig up a slide that would feed from the bandsaw table directly into the chute of your foam shredder. You'd obviously have to get the height right, but that might be the best of both worlds, with or without upsizing the chute. I'm only aiming for medium to small gravel sized chunks to add to traditional concrete in order to improve the insulative value of my foundation. I think your design is exactly what I need.
i wonder what using mulching blades...or leaf muncher blades would have on cutting and trowing chopped mas out.......a second idea would be to convert square box to round feed shoot,and adding a secondary finer screen...and add a second bag after first bag is full.....vice verse and attach second bag to top shoot..to fill top bag with rechopped styro. from first bag full you are now using as feed bag for finer chop second cut
I've looked through your past episodes and I cannot find one that shows your recipe for styro-aircrete. Have you made such an episode? If so, can you provide a link? If not, would you make one?
I don't remember which one but he did say this "there are 7 1/2 gallons to a cubic foot. A bag of 94 lb portland is 1.2 cubic ft. So that is 9 gallons of portland. Each batch is using 3 1/2 gallons of portland which ultimately makes 35 gallons of styro aircrete in the wall, or 4.67 cu ft of mix. "
how much reduction in volume do you get after shredding all the scrap styrofoam? if one has a trailer and an inverter this couold be taken to furniture stores or appliance instalation companies and foam could be shredded onsite. big bags loaded on trailer and brought home.
Khan it would cut the volume down by around 40%. Yes this is possible but I typically am tight on time to go and collect and they don't want you hanging around any longer than to pick it up and go. I can shred in the evening anytime I have free time.
Love all your videos. You mentioned once looking at how to pump the styro aircrete in a hose instead of having to lift it manually - any tips on that? Going more water for a more liquid solution? Adding a water reducer but keeping the water amount normal? Thanks!
To be honest, I have to say that I've watched every single video you've posted and I'm really interested about this matter. And the fact that I'm a subscriber too. I'm from Sri Lanka. I would really appreciate if you could let me know about the compositions and ratios of materials added in this project. And also I wanna know whether adding a wired mesh (chicken coop mesh) in-between the wall of air-crete and whether this mixture is made by adding soapy foam. Appreciate all your well understandable videos. Keep up with the good work. I'm waiting your kind response. Thank you.
Hi Wahalawatte. I am glad the videos have been helpful. The fire test video I shared all of the mix ratios. I am using 2 mixes. One for the walls like I built I one for loose fill insulation.
Rather than pouring the Styrofoam into the mixer is there a way to pour the concrete into a container of Styrofoam? Like have pre made containers of the Styrofoam that are ready to be filled and mixed with the concrete or aircrete?
@@DoctorGnu Sounds possible but you would lose the benefits of mixing. By coating all the beads with cement the mix becomes fireproof and can be molded into any shape
@AbundanceBuild yeah now that I am thinking about it. It's way easier to pour beads of Styrofoam into concrete rather than pour heavier concrete in it . I was saying what's easier to do ? To save on the mess. Like so the Styrofoam doesn't go everywhere. Maybe there's a way to just pump it in a container and a mixer idk.
Love your videos. Version 2 of the shredder is OK. I was a manufacturing engineer that specializes in this kind of factory enhancements. The insulation bag is perfect. The use of an electric lawn mower is great. Here are the changes I would make. 1) Redesign the cowling/container. I would use something like the plastic 55 Gal drum but go clam shell design. (2 piece) fitted for the engine/chopper and seals well. Instead of top opening I would make the container longer and use a top-side feed port. Make it easy to change parts. 2) mount the container high(ceiling/wall), to do this right the top of the container would need to be about 15 feet up off the ground. This is to create a continuous column feed. 3) add a diagonal feed conveyor. 4) then hang the insulation bag from the bottom of the container. You want the exit port of the insulation bag to fit the height of the cement mixer.
Ingenious upgrades Dennis!
In your suggestion #2: Question, is the reason for this structure change to use gravity to naturally drop the styrofoam into the white insulation bag column?
In your suggestion #4: Question, is this solution to completely knock out the moving of the styrofoam from the white insulation bag into the grey garbage container, and then having to pour the styrofoam from the grey garbage container into the cement mixer? If so, great idea, But then how would he measure the amount of styrofoam that is being fed into the cement mixer?
@@maigematthews5620 You could use two sliding gates , open the first one to fill the 45 gallon bucket , close the first then open the second to dump your 45 gallons of EPS directly into the ribbon mixer , you need to hoist them all up quite high but it would reduce spillage and increase the speed between batches.
I would use a grout pump to pump directly from the mixer into your formwork too.
thanks for sharing! subscribe for new builds coming soon!
Fantastic system now! I found that when I added the leaf blower to the shredder discharge, it created a vacuum and thus it was not only less messy, it also filled my large pillow case to the brim.
Would love to see a picture.
Great job! Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
These videos are just awesome. Stephen: you definitely epitomise DIY, and I am most impressed by your endless ingenuity.
My only contribution is this: regarding castors, my rule now is that everything in a work area that can go on castors, does go on castors.
If there are too many, or too heavy items sitting on the floor, then the workspace is inflexible, and you end up discouraging yourself from moving items around.
In my case, that includes several work tables, a drill press, 4x pallet rack units, press, etc.
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THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK AND ENGINUITY IN BRINGING THIS WHOLE CONCEPT TO BIRTH....
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This is what TH-cam and the internet is all about. Thank you for showing us your DIY tinkering. You're making me want to do this, although I don't have a use for it until I buy land. Great designs and use cases. Awesome.
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Great upgrade! Much cleaner and user friendly. Here’s a couple of ideas.
1. Set the box of styrofoam chunks on a table beside the shredder so you don’t have to bend over each time to get more pieces. Easier on your back and saves time.
2. Put a wye in your discharge tube about a foot into the flexible tube. You can order a hi volume in-line fan sized for that size of tubing from grower supply houses that will alleviate the clogging issue.
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You're going to need a lot of EPS beads if you want to build houses.
Convert chipper shredders like the Troy Bilt Super Tomahawk, add a blower.
Keep up the good work!!
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Nice refinement! This really is awesome work. Now all you have to do is turn that mower sideways, rework the chute to enter from the side & you can mount it on a vertical sliding mechanism to raise & lower it for bag height/easy loading of new bags. Inside the chute, just add a brush you can push pieces through to ensure it does not escape for good measure. Looking forward to your next video
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I was inspired by your first shredder and made one of my own. I needed 1/4 screen for making blocks (aka -perfect block clone) To help with the chopping, I only have 1/2 the plywood deck open with the half over the exit covered to create a "grinding chamber". i used a 55 gallon fiber drum that fits exactly the 20" mower. My plywood shoot has a 45 degree entry port with the opening perpendicular and having heavy vinyl strips to prevent the blowback. I use the harbor freight dust collector as the added suction enhances the extraction thru the screen. My next upgrade will be adding brushes to the end of the blade to force particles thru the screen as on of your viewers suggested. I too added a switch. Be warned with the single pole switch, the braking after turning off is disabled. I am researching momentary switches to re-enable that function. I have made 2 blocks so far, but am still refining the formulation a both came out a little bit high on the density. Also, I use inexpensive recycle bags on the dust collector and collect the proper amount for one batch (45-55 gals). The recycle bags are fine since the particles of foam don't puncture.
Can you share a link to more details or video about the perfect block clone? I would love to see something on that.
Great job!
I went back and watched the video again and noticed the wiring instructions. Thanks.
You're welcome!
If you add a second blade to the mower and mount it rotated about 60 degrees from the original blade you'll get finer beads.
I also recommend adding fiberglass strands mixed into the styro aircrete.
Thanks for the tip!
Hey mate , i really wanted to thank you for your idea. I've spent almost 1500 USD on shredder which unfourtunately didn't worked so good, also i've spent a lot of time thinking how to shred this waste for cheap. Now i finally made this 30USD thing by myself today and it actually worked. Now finally after a lot of failures i can finish my projects. Thank you so much mate👍👍. Cheers from Lithuania.
You're welcome! Great persistence and good luck with your project!
@@AbundanceBuild i have also researched that mixing 160l simple cement mixer. In the ratio of 25kg portland cement 52.5N , 15kg simple sand, saponified wood resin 70ml, fiber 70g, water 10liters and this shredded mass to the top. Mixing these components you can make really strong warm and cheap concrete. I'll add you a video cause i thought this may be interesting for you. I was amazed by the results.
@@music4you632 very cool! We have never tried wood resin as an additive. Thanks!
@@music4you632 yes links are pre-screened to prevent spam but we will check it out!
@@AbundanceBuild anyway this guy did some testing before in his videos and now he already build 1st floor from this stuff and it actually holds. This mix is almost same strong as gas beton blocks and it absorbs 4 times less humidity. It is also fire resistant and warm.
Bless you! Seriously I think I have my husband talked into this project, not having the mess is one in the plus category.
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Great innovation. Stephen. Your video is so informative. Jun marino from philippines.
Thank you!
i will love to watch a video, step by step, in how u build the shredder from the beginning to end. for all of us who do not have a clue in how it is done...thank you for sharing information with all of us.
I am making an e-course now that will cover everything! Also working on a plug and play shredder to sell - stay tuned!
@@AbundanceBuild that is good but that means u probably will charge more than 5 dollars for the course right? So only those with extra money will be accessing the curse...in other words i will be left out in the cold wishing to learn how is done. thanks
I don’t know if you have thought of, heard about or already tried this, but I think you could extrude the Styrocrete instead of trying to pump the slurry. If you use an auger something like a post hole auger from a pto inside the right size pvc pipe. You can experiment with different size discharge holes that would effect the density of the slurry. To get the slurry compressed before it enters the form so the consistency of the wall would be the same. A hopper and a Extruder with a hose and you could pump the slurry into a hole in the bottom of the form until it comes out a hole in the opposite side at the top of the form.
Good idea!
I watched the first vid a while back and I liked the idea but was taken aback a bit by the mess. This in turn... you can really call "New and Improved"! Perseverance, focus and ingeniuty! Kudos to you sir. This is in my bucket list of projects to do. Thank you for sharing!!
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@@AbundanceBuild I just did! BTW, I'm prepping to build in Argentina, the crunching poverty down there makes this an ideal system for the people that can't get out of the mental box of "concrete and bricks" because that's all they ever knew while EPS goes to the landfills.
Having looked into Aircrete and Papercrete the only system that may compete with Styrocrete IMHO is (saw)Dustcrete for its simplicity and performance. Looking forward to your next vids.
I'm very inspired and excited about your research and results. Please continue with this work.
Thanks! Will do!
You just keep on making it better...Don't Stop
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I love the concept and I could see myself one day collecting scraps from work to replicate this someday. But have you ever rented an insulaton shredder with the hose attachment? Maybe taking one of those machines and attaching an extended feeding tube like you made out of wood. But put heavy rubber ribbons inside, almost like mop hairs all hanging down so you can feed it but when it burps the foam should not spit back. Another thought for combining the styrofoam with the concrete is keep it in the bag but fashion a mattress inflator to a bigger tube with a way to secure it to the bag. That way you can shoot the foam out of the bag into the concrete hopper. Also maybe put a protective hood onto the concrete hopper to help minimize losing foam to the wind. And I see in the comments someone mentioned the concrete spray hose. And I think that would be neat to see for sure. I mean 3d printing housing is on the rise. Great idea though for real man. I hope you have many successfully structures!
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Farmers get seed to be planted in what they call “Super Sack”. They do not reuse them. They have 4 hanger loops it’s about a 5’ x 4’ cube bottom funnels down to a 6” tube. 1 1/2 cubic yard.
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Thank you So much. You are an awesome inspiration. I’ve been following air Crete for a long while now and seeing this development with the Styrofoam is huge. I just bought a small patch of land and looking to build some houses on it and this is gonna be my main construction method.
Joshua glad this is giving you a great direction for your house builds.
I'm in the same boat Joshua!! - Bought the land last year and now just bought $1500 of tools and $2000 of materials to begin my journey. I've promised my wife to build her a house and I'm also in need of an office outside the house. This morning I was watching Aircrete Harry (Wonderful resource!!!) who mentioned Sephen's "Stypro Air Crete" as a good method to avoid unstable aircrete. Now I feel like maybe I should build one of these contraptions!!!
@@rodneygiles3792 I’m right there with you guys… I have purchased all of my land properties first, and now I’m looking into affordable building solutions. What with today’s prices on houses and even building materials skyrocketed, we are only left to find alternative solutions.
Here are some interesting ones that I found:
Enclosed carport transitioned to a storage shed
Large storage shed transitioned to a small homestead house
Large carport transitioned to a Barndominium
Storage sheds made from wooden pallets then styrofoam spray insulated
Great content btw! I bet your wife's proud
Thank you!
Sir, I am from India and amazed at the great work you are doing to save our environment. Could you kindly enlighten as to how to convert the granules to foam. Warm regards
Thanks for watching! If you look at our most recent video we collect foam waste from one of those factories. We are not experts in making virgin foam, but it appears you heat the plastic beads and blow air into it making it 98% air! This is what makes it so effective as both insulation and a building material!
I’ve been watching all of your videos. I’m going to be building a house soon and want to do it as cheaply as possible. Here’s my ideals on the shredder. In stead of a lawn more I would use a 110 volt, one horse power motor on the electric switch. The with pilot bearing and pulleys. I would get the speed needed to shred the stereo foam. To get smaller sixes you might try a mulching blade or on with barbs or spikes welded and balanced on the blade. Just use one of those lawn mower blade balancers. If you use spikes make sure they are sharp just like the blade and it will rip them better. The thing about using a plain electric motor is the cost as compared to buying a new lawn. Mower. You can get the deck at almost any junk yard. Later
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Thanks for the amaizing idea and demostration.
You're welcome!
Love your videos, your adventure for building is exciting..!
Thank you! We are all in this together!
Amazing video ty for sharing!!
Youre welcome! New builds coming soon!
I wish you made more content. Your material is so good! Your very likable and great at explaining things.
Random question for you:
How long does it take for the styroAirCrete to fully cure?
24 hours. Working on some big builds now! More videos coming soon! Subscribe to be notified!
After I watched your first video I went around telling everyone "This man used Styrofoam, STYROFOAM! To build a shop with!" I was like Hyde on That 70's show. Lol awesome!
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Very great job. It reminds me of taking my dad's old tools and repurposing them for different builds.
I'm new at all this and want to start soon. I wanted to recommend on your presentation. This may be easier said than done, but when you were running the video of your "before" as full screen and your talking about it comparing to the New. I think if you could put the video in the upper right quad since most your angles in your recordings I've seen that area isn't framing what you are working on.
I'm gong to go back and watch some of your older projects. But I really want to use the aircrete and stucko for under my deck to make it a Work Space all year round and have it look better than the wood.
Thank you
Cliff
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use a 5 gallon bucket as your input shoot. it has a 10-12" diameter and you can get them for free from construction sites or a few bucks at lowes. just cut out bottom and use angle brackets to attach to your plywood lid. get a battery powered sprayer and mix water with fabric softener. spray on foam beads to reduce static charge.
Or dont fully cut out the bottom, leave a flange inside, caulk to block leaks, and just screw that to plywood directly...
Good ideas Khan. Thank you
@@AbundanceBuild I used the 5 gallon bucket idea on my modified Stephen Williams foam shedder V2 and it works perfect. You have to leave 2 inches protruding below the bottom of the mounting deck to stop the foam flying out. I use a leaf vacuum to cut the off take from the lawnmower to get 1/4 beads. I also use bounce sheets suspended in the hopper and it takes all the static out...nice smell too LOL. Thank you again Stephen.
Try using a mulching blade. The "wings" on the back of the mulching blades create a lift that help shred the grass into smaller pieces. I'd bet it would help shred the foam smaller also.
Awesome! Thanks for the tip!
God bless you🎉
@@FriendofIsreal Thank you! ❤️ You too!
Thank you for your detailed videos.😎🤩
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Awesome work!! Thank you for sharing 🙏😅
You're welcome! New builds incoming!
You need to have 2 blast gates side by side to minimize fluff escape. Also maybe add those mulching springs to the mower blades. The reason the smaller side screen was working for Greg is his dust collection system helped pull it out of the mower shredder...
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Who is Greg? I'm interested in seeing his content as well.
Your doing great.
Keep up the informative videos.
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Before I get into the engineering geek session I first have to give praise where it's due. I just watched all your videos again after a shout out from Aircrete Harry mentioned your "StyroAirCrete" as a solution on stabilizing aircrete in his recent video comparing compression at various depths. (The 12ft column video...)
This is looking more and more like my wife's food processor. The main differences are that the chute is offset and the blade is closer to the lid. I have a sneaking suspicion that finer chopping is probably a result of these two things. I wonder if a better design for this use case would be to create an X of 2x4s under the lid to stop the big pieces from jumping around like popcorn. That would also block congestion in the center of then enclosure where backup is more critical.
Keep posting updates. Very exciting...
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I have watched all of your videos and will soon be building a shed using this method. Curiosity question: Who is Paul McDowell? You mentioned him a few times in your videos and I'd be interested to view his content to see what his set up looks like.
No longer remember the reference sorry!
Yes! 👍🏼 So much more clean!
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Great videos! STATIC! 😱😆This is a little long, but worth the read if it works. I have a thought about the STATIC issue with the styrofoam. I used to stuff pillows with the mini styrofoam beads (extra large ones are now used in beanbag chairs), and the static was a big, frustrating issue. So, I put a dryer sheet in a spray bottle of water to mist inside the store-bought bag-and shake it good and hard-before making a larger opening to transfer the beads into the pillow, and sure enough, NO MORE STATIC. WooHOO! If Static Guard, Downy Fabric Softer (laundry anti-static liquid) don’t interact with the foaming solution in the StyoAirCrete, this could be a possible option you could try for dealing with the static issue. Another thought, for under $30, you could install a patio “misting” nozzle, the kind used for cooling off while sitting outside in the heat of the summertime, inside your system somewhere, maybe even as you feed it into the mower shredder from a tank instead of a garden hose, in order to prevent the static issue before it even gets blown into the large bag. If this is something that breaks down the foaming solution chemically once the misted styro bits are added to the whole mix, I guess it wouldn’t work, but it might be worth an experiment-maybe try a small batch of foam spiked with a hint of fabric softener just to see if that batch collapses more than would a batch without it, side by side. Even when I am opening packaging full of static-y styrofoam and bits get everywhere, a fabric softener misting bottle on hand makes cleanup a lot easier and less aggravating. I might even try this experiment myself😉 in styroaircrete. When I saw your entire shop snowed with the shredded stuff, my head instantly went to fabric softener. There may be an organic type of fabric softener that could be used if you are allergic to the artificial fragrances in it like I am.
Good idea!
Would this stuff be ok insulating my attic?
John yes it would. Watch the Fire test video. You can treat the EPS with Borax and boric acid and it makes it fire resistant.
Don't know if you could use bigger bags but they used to make industrial strength plastic bags to put the big round hay bales in to make silage without a silage pit. Those bags were really long. Can't remember exactly but I bet 50 to 100 ft or more. They were meant to stay outside in the field for months or a yr or so. So if you wanted to grind enough Styrofoam for a whole house b4 you started or wanted to have a Styrofoam grinding business or just wanted to get the grinder and bag out of your shop, this might work. The bags were a little bigger around than diameter of a round hay bale. Wouldn't have to use the whole length of the bag. Check at a big farm supply store or a big haying equipment dealer to see if they still make bags to make round bale haylage.
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Have you ever heard of the Hagfish?
I’m guessing that that it’s slime could improve aircretes structural integrity while holding the styrofoam into manageable clumps during the production phase.
Wow interesting!
congratulations keep coing!👏👏
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Nice work will be do the mod to mine and the insulation bags are great idea. I built my grid out of 1/4 in. round bar vertical to the deck spaced 3/4 of in.
Great job!
Another great video
Thank you!
terrific content :) keep it coming
Thank you! New builds coming - stay tuned!
👍
Thanks for the continued postings! I am curious -- with the Styrofoam added to the aircrete, have you ever thought of also adding steel meshing to the inside of the mixture when making the panels? It seems that would strengthen it's vertical structure, wouldn't it?
He does have rebar that he installs into the forms, after pour the mixture. And when it’s dried, he does line the outside with fiberglass/steel mesh when applying the stucco for structural integrity purposes.
I think if anything, we will have to wait on his video postings of pressure tests that he’s been wanting to do.
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what a great idea... I have been mulling this over for some time and never thought of using my extra electric lawnmower...
I wonder if using a thatching blade would have an impact?
I will be making one of these soon
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If I was trying to get a finer shred, I'd build a raised platform to put the shredder on and have the bag below it. I think I'd help with the flow using a finer mesh.
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Uniform individual beads for most applications would be best. Likely require two stage operation. Wider outlet screen here to solve plugging screen. Then the batch is run through a rotating drum (expanded lath screwed to plywood disks mounted on pillow blocks. This would run close to another piece of expanded lath). You have solved the mess problem, and this would surely mean more engineering, but those individual beads sure would be beautiful!
For sure!
Few things.. Look up how foarage choppers and wood chippers work. Most have a centrifugal blower attaced. Cyclonic air filters are your friend a good design will let you continously fill big plastic bag after bag or even better build a silo for it.
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Totally awesome device.
Thank you!
Stephen. Have you tried a hybrid mix. I was wanting to try a papercrete/styrocrete mix. maybe go 50-50 on the paper pulp and the styrofoam. The paper pulp fiber locks together and the styrocrete should give you a much lighter mix with better insulation than straigt papercrete. The idea is a stronger material (due to the fibers locking) and a better insulative product. I haen't tried it yet. have you?
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Stephen, great videos, very thorough and well made. I can't say enough good things. I wanted to know, have you done a compressive strength test on the styro aircrete or any other strength tests? If it can handle even a fair amount of load, I've got a myriad of projects I want to build with it.
Coming soon!
Just got a 4x8x6' load of styrofoam panels from a hot tub spa repair place. Another source of free foam. takes just a minute to rip off old vinyl material and get the foam inside.
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Not sure if folks have suggested already, but here's my thoughts, for what they're worth: (Sorry, it's gonna take a bit to type. In bed sick with the "you-know-what"....)
- Take the mower completely apart so you just have the motor unit, shaft, blade and electronics. Cut a 3/4" plywood disk the O.D. of the top of your barrel PLUS 2". Cut a 1" thick ring out of plywood (make two rings, 3/4" ply, one should do two would be better) You can economize your sheet by making the ring in 1/4 sections as the sections can be nested on the sheet. The ring(or all the 1/4" segments) will have the I.D of the barrel top and the O.D. of the disk. (Can sand back the I.D. a bit so it's not super tight to the barrel top O.D.) Screw this/these to the first disk. Make another disk with an O.D. (or just shy) of the I.D. of the top of the barrel. Screw this, centered on to the first disk. This will make a channel that the barrel lip will sit in. Lay some sticky backed foam tape in the bottom of the channel to make it air tight. In the center of this "Lid", drill a hole this dia. of the mower blade shaft. Mount the mower motor to the 'lid' using the existing mounts on the motor (you may need to make some custom wood blocks/frame to do this, if the motor doesn't have built in flange mounts to just bolt it direct to the plywood). Wire the on/off switch like you did.
- For the exit shoot, cut a rectangle hole in the barrel, just below the blade and make a shroud so the direction of the exiting material comes straight off the wall of the barrel in a flat plane, or close to it. For reference of what I mean, look at how the outlet of a ready made wood shop dust collectors impeller housing is designed, or how an old fashion, hand cranked forge blower is shaped (also a lot like the turbo in a car engine). Also look up "Thien Baffle" ( woodgears.ca/dust_collector/separator.html ) This outlet position with give much better air flow and less resistance.
- Make sure your blade is oriented so it pulls air in the right direction (sucking in from your in-feed point) You could try to tweak the blade a bit to increase it's fan blade shape for more suction.
------ con't next -------
- To get finer shred on the styro: Add bolts to the blade on the in-feed side. 1/4-3/8" bolts mounted through the blade. Maybe 2" apart. These "teeth" should provide more shredding action. The blade may be tempered back enough to be able to drill it. If not, you can try spot annealing. Meaure and mark wear your holes for the bolts are going to go. *** These holes must be exact and equal on both sides and the bolts/nuts/washers must be equal as well. Any weight different from one side to the other is going to put the blade out of balance, cause vibration and could be a big problem!*** Use a center punch or small drill bit to make a dimple on each mark. Take an old, large size drill bit or, better yet, an old carbide tip masonry drill bit and run it in reverse, in the dimple. This will create heat and change the color of the steel. This heat will soften the spot with little propagation to the rest of the blade, so it retains it's hardness. Once tempered back, you should be able to drill your bolt holes. 2" bolts should be plenty. Maybe 3 per side. And definitely use nylock nuts! With the smaller size styro particles, you should be able to use smaller expanded sheet like you friend used. Plus, with the expanded sheet, you can bolt that to the outlet, inside the barrel, rather than glue. Better for playing with mesh size and maintenance.
- You may want to play with having a larger outlet size. This might slow the exit velocity, letting the styro remain in the shedder for just a bit longer to get shredded.
- Instead of a barrel, you could use a big rubbermaid garbage can.
----- con't-------
- Static dissipation: Try grounding the barrel with copper wire. Also could try introducing water. Run a pipe into the barrel from a kettle to intro. steam. Or get one of those ornamental pond vaporizers in the barrel.
- Could also try adding a second blade, perpendicular to the first to get more chopping action. Might be the easiest thing to try first.
Good idea!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for taking the time to share all of these ideas! We have been looking for a plug and play shredder that is idiot proof. Stay tuned!
Stephen, have you experimented with the sharpness of the mower blade?
Perhaps a sharp blade cuts part of the Styrofoam to dust while a duller blade might generate more evenly sized balls. Of course this is just a wild guess.
Cobbles62 I have not tried a dull blade. I sharpened it before I started shredding.
Get two blast doors and some duct to match the volume required for a batch of EPS-CRETE then you can eliminate the measuring step and go straight to your mixer, no mess, no mister required.
Great idea
I love the sound of this, could you explain a bit more how this would work
So you would take a length of duct pipe to see the volume of each ft of duct. So if you figure its 5 ft worth put a gate valve on bag and one after five ft of duct. So fill the five ft section then close to bags valve and empty the pipe with the he right amount every time.
@@jeffkrupke3810 Brilliant!
@@jeffkrupke3810 would a 5’ section make the right amount ? If you e done the math , makes it so much easier for ME !!!💞
Another great video Stephen .
Maybe elevate your mower so gravity help with bag issue.
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More vids plz man been weeks!!
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If those big bags was air tight, you could suck all the air out with a shop vacuum. Those big full bags would be easy to store.
I have tried that with construction garbage bags, but amazingly...I gained less than 5%!
Great idea- we tried that a while back and it worked pretty well! New builds and tests coming soon!
Could you please put links to the supplies you use in the comments.
Coming soon!
This is very interesting. Is Styro aircrete waterproof?
Not alone. Needs to be sealed
My hero
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Brilliant!
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Could eliminate the pre-shredding and simply shred directly into the mixer as you make a batch of StyroformCrete?
I was thinking the same thing. Just weigh out enough styrofoam to make 55 gallons of shredded material, feed it in and you're done. No need to transfer from a bag to the barrel to the mixer.
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The Italians would have loved to have that old styrofoam when they were building the pantheon they had to use pumice and little air-filled clay pots to reduce weight near the top of the dome
Gracious !!! How do you know all this intriguing information ???
De Young ……… De Young ………..
Hummmmmm……………
Own a museum in San Francisco ???
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Thank you for doing this because it has been juicing up my brain to think of all the possibilities this styro aircrete can do. Where can I get more details on how to put together/install the light switch box with the cord, etc... that comes with electric mower. In other words, I need an explanation for "dummies"...lol. I did see some on this video, but I need a little more details of what to buy and how to convert/connect each part. Thank you.
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I wonder if you could use a positive electrical charge on the shredder and a negative electrical charge on the bag to help things along...?
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do you use mulching blades on the mower?
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where do you get the big bags?
Home Depot. Search Contractor Insulation removal bags. Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
I wonder if it might be better to have the feed chute be offset of the center so it hits the the business end first
Thanks for the tip!
I was thinking about purchasing a used 13 amp leaf mulcher/shredder, then installing a high lift lawn mower blade to pull material in, and pushing it out a fine metal mesh beneath the blade where the material exits the bottom. Any thoughts?
Go for it! Sorry for delayed response
I have a Quonset hut-style building in Arizona that I'm considering covering with wire mesh and shooting styrocrete out of a plaster gun. What do you think about shooting this stuff? I'm not too concerned about cracking. Also is pumping a problem, you've probably already done that but I figured I'd ask. Thanks for engaging content.
You're welcome! Pumping is slow and you need a mold to pack the styrocrete in tightly. We dont shoot it or pump it for those reasons. Good luck!
So smart
Thank you!
Have you done a fireproofing test on the finished product?
Coming soon!
Styrofoam has even more utility than just lightweight/insular aggregate. Its an effective epoxy resin substitute when dissolved in acetone, paint thinners, or even gasoline. Different solvents provide different results in the finished product. Turpentine is ideal for impact surfaces because the pine resin allows for ongoing flexibility whereas acetone will yield a very hard, but brittle, crystal clear plastic. I’ve been remodeling a home using only trash from the beach and styrofoam is beyond useful.
Wow way to go! We have done some tests melting it down but we need to make a video about it!
I love your videos, information, and concepts. However, how do I get this material approved by a building department?
Working on it! New tests coming soon!
Hi Stephen. Could you give us links to where we can buy the insulation bag and other materials
Cost breakdown with links coming soon!
Where do you buy the bags?
You can get the large insulation removal bags from Home Depot for about $15 per bag!
where did you get the bags?
Attic insulation bags. Subscribe for new builds coming soon!
How do you get your walls to stand up?
We use molds then pack mix tightly inside
amazed with the work and proficiency of your labors and test. enjoy watching you. do you have any videos that show the mixing of styroaircrete? or even your aircrete gun?
Hopechannelcat, Thanks for the feedback. I have made 7 videos now. Yes I go into more detail in some of the other videos.
Would it be worth foregoing upsizing your chute in favor of installing a foam cutting wire on the top edge? Just take your foam and press down and the cut piece falls directly into the chute in one motion.
We thought about that as well. In theory it seems like it but in our experience with wire cutting Styrofoam it is a slow process. We fill up bags quickly this way! And we need to fill a lot of bags to build a house
@@AbundanceBuild Well, for whatever it's worth, I don't have the beautifully conceived set up you do (there's a reason I ended up here tonight,) but I've been cutting my styrofoam up on the band saw. I'm sure with only a little thought you could rig up a slide that would feed from the bandsaw table directly into the chute of your foam shredder. You'd obviously have to get the height right, but that might be the best of both worlds, with or without upsizing the chute.
I'm only aiming for medium to small gravel sized chunks to add to traditional concrete in order to improve the insulative value of my foundation. I think your design is exactly what I need.
i wonder what using mulching blades...or leaf muncher blades would have on cutting and trowing chopped mas out.......a second idea would be to convert square box to round feed shoot,and adding a secondary finer screen...and add a second bag after first bag is full.....vice verse and attach second bag to top shoot..to fill top bag with rechopped styro. from first bag full you are now using as feed bag for finer chop second cut
Good ideas!
I've looked through your past episodes and I cannot find one that shows your recipe for styro-aircrete. Have you made such an episode? If so, can you provide a link? If not, would you make one?
I don't remember which one but he did say this "there are 7 1/2 gallons to a cubic foot. A bag of 94 lb portland is 1.2 cubic ft. So that is 9 gallons of portland. Each batch is using 3 1/2 gallons of portland which ultimately makes 35 gallons of styro aircrete in the wall, or 4.67 cu ft of mix. "
@@RichM-vc9on Thanks
Corbett in the fire test video I share the different mix ratios.
@@AbundanceBuild Thanks
how much reduction in volume do you get after shredding all the scrap styrofoam? if one has a trailer and an inverter this couold be taken to furniture stores or appliance instalation companies and foam could be shredded onsite. big bags loaded on trailer and brought home.
Khan it would cut the volume down by around 40%. Yes this is possible but I typically am tight on time to go and collect and they don't want you hanging around any longer than to pick it up and go. I can shred in the evening anytime I have free time.
Love all your videos. You mentioned once looking at how to pump the styro aircrete in a hose instead of having to lift it manually - any tips on that? Going more water for a more liquid solution? Adding a water reducer but keeping the water amount normal? Thanks!
You would probably need to add more foamed concrete to the mix but this would probably also make it harder to be contained.
We found the pumps to be much slower than our method! New builds coming soon!
I had asked a question a while bag for what mesh you are using on the outside? I never saw a answer
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Are you using a mulching blade?
Seems they blow more debris and clippings out of my mower when the shoot is open.
Thanks for the tip!
Have you tried 1/2 inch hardware cloth for the mesh? Just curious.
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To be honest, I have to say that I've watched every single video you've posted and I'm really interested about this matter. And the fact that I'm a subscriber too. I'm from Sri Lanka. I would really appreciate if you could let me know about the compositions and ratios of materials added in this project. And also I wanna know whether adding a wired mesh (chicken coop mesh) in-between the wall of air-crete and whether this mixture is made by adding soapy foam. Appreciate all your well understandable videos. Keep up with the good work. I'm waiting your kind response. Thank you.
Hi Wahalawatte. I am glad the videos have been helpful. The fire test video I shared all of the mix ratios. I am using 2 mixes. One for the walls like I built I one for loose fill insulation.
Maybe add another stage with a second lawnmower that refines the 1" pieces down further.
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Rather than pouring the Styrofoam into the mixer is there a way to pour the concrete into a container of Styrofoam? Like have pre made containers of the Styrofoam that are ready to be filled and mixed with the concrete or aircrete?
@@DoctorGnu Sounds possible but you would lose the benefits of mixing. By coating all the beads with cement the mix becomes fireproof and can be molded into any shape
@AbundanceBuild yeah now that I am thinking about it. It's way easier to pour beads of Styrofoam into concrete rather than pour heavier concrete in it . I was saying what's easier to do ? To save on the mess. Like so the Styrofoam doesn't go everywhere. Maybe there's a way to just pump it in a container and a mixer idk.
@@DoctorGnu The mess is minimal unless it's a very windy day haha
awesome
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Could you shred it once large screen then hang from ceiling and reshred with the smaller screen to your second bag?
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