Large Scale Central

Virginia City central mountain project

Modeling
#81

John Caughey said:

Rick Marty said:

Cliff, even with all that calculating, you know it won’t be enough(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

Yep! An 80 pound rule of thumb, with 60 pound bags. Even your grandmother can see through that!

Maybe it’s kind of like the “feels like” temperature we get from the weather service: when you’re older, the 60 pound bags FEEL like they weigh 80 pounds. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)

#82

You’re going to hand mix all that. I’d be dead before it cured (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)

I don’t remember which project was I wanted it for, but some years back I bought a 160# mixer from Home Depot. Works great for concrete, mortar and sand mix - not so much…

#83

The problem with rotating barrel mixers, is with cement to work properly it needs more water, if you mix mortar thin enough to plop in the mixer it is way to thin for mortar.

You need a mortar mixer or a wheel barrel and Mud hoe or lately, a handheld 2 beeter mixer and a cattle watering rubber trough works great. The mixers sale around 125-150 dollars.

Personally I built a nice 80lb paddle mixer, to where the wheel barrel rolls under it for dumping, a 2 wheel, wheel barrel holds 3 bags or 240 lbs. You can’t use it up in a hot day, I only do 2 sacks on a hot day, then mix another batch. I have mixed over 20,000 lbs with mine.

#84

John Caughey said:

Rick Marty said:

Cliff, even with all that calculating, you know it won’t be enough(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

Yep! An 80 pound rule of thumb, with 60 pound bags. Even your grandmother can see through that!

OK, Eagle Eye… (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif), I did factor up for that. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

#85

Dennis Rayon said:

Wow Cliff, you are one gutsy type guy tackling this in the heat of summer. But we all know you are a superman type guy.

Thanks for sharing

Dennis

Thanks Dennis!

But, if this short chubby 60-year-old with a bad back can do it, anyone can, haha!

Thanks for the kind comments though, I was thinking of you a lot today, and your concrete mountain efforts over the years, as you might imagine.

#86

Bruce Chandler said:

John Caughey said:

Rick Marty said:

Cliff, even with all that calculating, you know it won’t be enough(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

Yep! An 80 pound rule of thumb, with 60 pound bags. Even your grandmother can see through that!

Maybe it’s kind of like the “feels like” temperature we get from the weather service: when you’re older, the 60 pound bags FEEL like they weigh 80 pounds. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)

Now THAT is a piece of truth. Especially when you add a gallon of water to it.

#87

Today was first day of mudslinging.

I have a mixer (thanks Jon), but decided to use a mixer in my hammer drill (thanks Jerry B for pointing out that a hammer drill would do much better that regular drill). I split a 60lb bag between two 5 gal buckets, poured in a half gallon of water, and the drill-mixer worked great.

The half-batch was plenty heavy to tote into position. It also kept things tidy with a 5 gal bucket: I tried a full bag at first, with the gallon of water, and things got messy. And it was a sumbeach to tote.

As usual, there was the fetching this tool or that before things got really squared away.

Also, I decided to snip out the tunnel lining, because a) proved too big a PITA to make the mortar stick, and b) I want a wood liner anyway, which will be more fun to build. In theory. In the mean time, I’ll mortar up the first ~foot of tunnel on either end, and leave the rest.

With those out of the way, I got 7 bags slung today. Here’s how that looks, as the first of two layers in this section.

And Dennis, you bet, quite hot. 95 here. The shade tarp made all the diff, and I put on a big fan which helped. Main thing though, low humidity today, which won’t be low tomorrow… So yeah, that’ll be harder.

Lots of fun though. Once things were really set up, I had a ball!

Cliff

#88

Keeping the sun off the cement while drying is important at the heat. Sprinkle with a fine mist occasionally would help, ideally is a wet blanket on the cement. Looking great

Thanks for sharing

Dennis

#89

Looking good Cliff.

Drape a wet towel around your neck. Also works if you bandanna it over your head draped down your back.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#90

Dennis Rayon said:

Keeping the sun off the cement while drying is important at the heat. Sprinkle with a fine mist occasionally would help, ideally is a wet blanket on the cement. Looking great

Thanks for sharing

Dennis

Thanks Dennis! I forgot about that, and went right out to spray it.

#91

David Marconi,FOGCH said:

Looking good Cliff.

Drape a wet towel around your neck. Also works if you bandanna it over your head draped down your back.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Great idea David, I’ll do that. Thanks.

#92

Cliff,

Amazing work! I wish I had seen this post before we did our own mountain and tunnels! If we ever make an extension to the Triple O, we have this as a guide!

Eric

#93

Eric Mueller said:

Cliff,

Amazing work! I wish I had seen this post before we did our own mountain and tunnels! If we ever make an extension to the Triple O, we have this as a guide!

Eric

Thanks very much Eric, much appreciated! Just so you know, I learned tons from Dennis Rayon’s threads on this subject, so if you head in this direction, please be sure to check those out as well. I’m not quite sure how to get to them now (it’s been several years), but Dennis can advise.

#94

Got another 9 bags down today, averaging around 40 minutes per, FWIW.

The remainder of the city area will take maybe 11-13 bags, and I hope to get most of that done tomorrow, we’ll see.

BTW, while Dennis uses a trowel for his amazing rockwork, I use my (gloved) hands to apply and smooth the mortar for the plainer / smoother look of the Virginia City environment.

Because of that, my new issue is that sand gets into my (rubber-lined) gloves, collects in some place or another, and starts abrading the skin. Any pointers along those lines anyone? I’m rinsing the gloves inside and out between bag-batches now, so hopefully the affect will be less tomorrow.

#95

Rooster said:

I ain’t helping cut it up when your dead!

That’s what my wife used to say… (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-frown.gif)

My theoretically ideal solution: get a nice front-end loader now; build a garage for it; use it to clear the next phase(s) of the layout; and include it with the house as a free demolition tool. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)

#96

And the voids in the mountain on both sides of the tunnel are for ???

#97

Cliff Jennings said:

Rooster said:

I ain’t helping cut it up when your dead!

That’s what my wife used to say… (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-frown.gif)

My theoretically ideal solution: get a nice front-end loader now; build a garage for it; use it to clear the next phase(s) of the layout; and include it with the house as a free demolition tool. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)

Do the neighbors know they are moving?

#98

Cliff,

You could try a pair of Nitril or Latex gloves inside your work gloves. Should keep the sand away from the skin but will probably make your hands sweat pretty badly.

Least, that has been my expierence.

#99

Rick Marty said:

Cliff,

You could try a pair of Nitril or Latex gloves inside your work gloves. Should keep the sand away from the skin but will probably make your hands sweat pretty badly.

Least, that has been my expierence.

Good idea Rick, I’ll give that a shot.

#100

You gonna carve rocks into this? Looking good so far, Cliffster