What is a good papercrete recipe and / or directions to make papercrete?

Question

please if you could give pounds of paper, cement and or other ingredients?

drying times (approximate)

and best way to form a mold form papercrete

Answer 1

That is simple. I used this recipe to make a really cool model of the U-boat base of St-Nazaire circa 1942.

Papercrete is made from recycled paper with a small amount of cement and sand added. The ratio is 60/20/20.  The paper/concrete/sand mixture is stirred in a large barrel, much like a blender, until all paper is shredded and evenly mixed with the concrete and sand. Papercrete can be mortared, drilled, hammered, nailed, used as plaster and as an infill between poles or studs.  Recently, some people made the mixture without cement, and created Fidobe or Paper Adobe.  These products are dense building logs used in construction.

While researching, I found a gentleman that had made a mixer out of an old 55 gallon drum, which was mounted on an old car axle.  A unique gearing system attached to an old lawn mower blade did the mixing.  He would hook this contraption behind his car, take a slow drive around the block, and have perfect papercrete.

Papercrete is handled much like adobe.  It can be made in smaller bricks or can be used much as cement is, and poured into a monolithic wall. If papercrete is poured in a monolithic wall, the density on the bottom will be much greater than on the top.  The papercrete will be cut off from the air, causing drying issues.  This can cause pockets, creases and voids in the wall. Papercrete will also shrink 30% in height when drying.  It stands to reason that building using the slip form method is the safest bet.

One method of construction is the wattle and daub technique.  In this construction, a wall is woven using poles and reeds, and then the papercrete is applied.  This method has been in buildings dating back to primitive times.

Another technique used is the slipform method.  In this method, the papercrete is poured into the forms creating the exterior walls. Forms are placed one on top of the other until the correct height is reached.  The papercrete slurry is used to fill joints and reinforce the blocks.  This type of construction is very strong, and is used in high rise buildings, silos, and multi-story buildings.  Using this technique for building a papercrete house is a good choice.