Granted this has consistency problems as stated in one of your later videos but for small items, prototypes, testing small quantities of mixtures, etc this is perfect

@@waynoswaynos hi Waynos, what method and design did you settle on?

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels Hey Matt, Check out Silverson Machines on youtube and get a handle on 'high shear mixing'. I made a thing along those lines and it works really well. It whips up about 30 litres in a couple of minutes or less. I made a thing with holes similar to yours first off but it didn't really work for me.

Thanks. I think it needs a lot more experimentation to be sure it is an optimal approach.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels you may like airglass too

Thanks for the kind words and for checking out the video.

I'm not sure if you are pointing out that it has been a long time since I updated this but yes, I've been working on other things. I recently got back to working on aircrete and will have a video or two to post this month (I hope).

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels To tell you the truth Mate, I'm not sure what I meant either. Too many Beers. I think I was referring to the abrupt cut-off at the end. I'll change the comment. Cheers

Thanks, btw, I've watched quite a few of your videos and the info has been most helpful.

Sorry to be so off topic but does any of you know a way to log back into an instagram account?? I stupidly lost the password. I would appreciate any help you can give me!

@Malcolm Titan instablaster ;)

Hi Konfidante, I was following the recipe from the dome gaia site as best I could. Do you think they also use too much water?

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels there is this tendency to make a really wet mix when it comes to AirCrete. The equation is very simple less water= stronger concrete. The advantage of a drier mix is less drying time = quicker de-moulding time if required. When I see sloppy wet mixes I associate these as laziness and lack of understanding of concrete. Why would I want so much water in my mix? Can’t think of a single reason. Dry mixes can be incredibly workable with water reducers and plasticizers.

@@konfidante i like to think lack of knowledge rather than laziness! Can you share your recipe and methodology?

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels Very simple, make a mix exactly the same as regular cement. Use water reducer, air entrainment and plasticizer. This mix can be extremely dry as long as it is mixed thoroughly. Now add your foam as desired. The water reducer and plasticizer will be activated by the foam and the mix will become wet enough to even cast fine details. I get away with very little foam because my objective isn’t weight reduction rather insulation and sound proofing. My recipe probably is close to 2000 psi and after 30 days it is structurally sound. The English statuary casters have another trick up their sleeves. They take sand and mix it with cement. Incredibly dry mix. The simple objective is to coat the sand kernels with cement. They put this creation on hard floors spread out and they let it dry out. When they need Mixing materials they hand tamp this sand making it into cement coated sand kernels. They use this as the main ingredient. The results are incredible. Lighter mix and incredibly strong for fine detailed statues and planters.

Thanks Roderick. The video I posted of the experimental storage box uses panels made with the frother. Note however that I've moved to using a foam maker as it is much faster.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels thanks Matt, I am just building a foam generator for myself with the idea of building dome garden sheds on our 30 acre property. Having fun whilst learning something new.

@@marvin-burns hi Roderick, please post back and let us know how it went!

Why would anyone want a light weight floor for a garage. I’m taking about a normal basic garage ground level. Other than trying to be cheep nothing sounds good about a aircrete floor. As for holding two tons you have got to be nuts to think foam and Portland would withstand that kind of weight.

It works ok, someone pointed out tying a bunch of plastic scrubbers to a mixer paddle works better. I found the quality to vary a lot so I went ahead and made a compressor based foamer. In a few weeks I'll post a video of my recent experiments.

I added fiber strands and increased the thickness to 1.5" and let the panels cure for at least a week before any handling and they are strong enough to work with. At one inch thick with the fiber you have to be pretty careful with them. Note that the fiber must be special for-concrete stuff, the alkali in portland cement will damage glass fibers. I'm leaning more to casting in place as making panels and then assembling into structures is very labor intensive. Creating butt joints between panels is a hassle. In a few weeks I'll post my results from pouring in place.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels Thanks for timely reply. I also found 1 inch wasn't enough. 1.5 is. Videoss I've watched showed boxes being cemented from the out side, with only the inside edge of the sides touching. Also with planter boxes, joined with half joints and a pipe.

Hi Greg, I'll put a site together with the source and stl files so you can print your own paddles and I'll update here.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels That would be awesome Matt. Thank you so much!!

I have posted the .scad file and some STL files here: www.kiatoa.com/cgi-bin/fossils/matt/wiki?name=Aircrete - if you want a specific size = just post here.

I have posted the .scad file and some STL files here: www.kiatoa.com/cgi-bin/fossils/matt/wiki?name=Aircrete - if you want a specific size = just post here.

Hi Jay, please use google to search for dome gaia. Their recipes work great. www.domegaia.com/how-to-make-aircrete.html

Thanks for the encouragement! Are you suggesting the holes for the foam mixing paddle or the cement mixing paddle or both?

I'll LOOK at the video agian" and send another Comment, That is a little bit more Clear.....ok, Thanks for the video.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels What I did was tie about 10 nylon dish washing scrubbies onto my auger mixer..The 1000`s of little holes in that medium produced stuff that resembled shaving cream.

@@gumacanian4211 Excellent idea! I'll give that a try. I think the bubbles from the disc-foamer are a bit too big.

Ah, great word, thanks!

No chemical additives but I did experiment with adding chopped fiberglass. The chopped fiberglass does make a big difference in strength. Be sure to get the kind of fiberglass that is compatible with cement.

Hi Jorge, Yes, I followed the recipe from the dome gaia site (www.domegaia.com/) scaled appropriately. I have added fiber purchased from Amazon - note that you cannot use glass fiber as the glass is weakened over time by the alkali in the cement.

I mark or measure the level for final needed volume. Add foam to cement slurry until you get to the mark.

Thank you Ostad again...you are the first man who reply me within few hour , 1 to 6 month Somebody dont reply.... For 5 kg ciment how much foam wee can add. And how many days after aircement i can use??

@@fabion6043 after two days, but it will be very weak. I usually give at least three days 5kg cement add with 2.6 litres water and mix, then add foam until you have 21 litres aircrete

I have used both. The foaming agent is a little better but the detergent recommended on the domegaia site seemed to work pretty well also. Most critical thing is the foam density. Be sure you get about 90g per quart.

Hi Greg, I think aircrete might work for an inground pool but what would be the benefit? I don't think the insulating value of aircrete will be much advantage in that application.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels reg cement pools WILL FLOAT. IF there is no water in them and a heavy rain comes along, thinking of of all the cement coffins in New Orleans, pools are the same way, aircrete will work like a bobber.. laughing thinking of watching it in a rain storm. Put a boat in it and play on rough seas

From DomeGaia site: 94lb portland cement, 6 gallons water, add foam to about 46 US gallons. In metric: 42kg portland cement, 23 litres water, add foam to make 174 litres aircrete mix. A few days ago I made a small batch - just scale the numbers. E.g 1kg cement, .5 litres water add foam to make 4 litres aircrete mix. Please double check the numbers.

Thanks Mr matt, much appreciate it

Sir , have you tried livoton foaming agent

@@msaetmaus1201 no, I have not. If you try it please make a video or post back here your experience!

You need very tiny bubbles and entraining air will tend to make large bubbles.

Could the air be diffused through a bubble stone like apparatus (similar to what you find in a fish tank)?

Yes, that would work. You might want to add some fibre for strength. You can find glad fibre for cement on Amazon. Regular glass fibre will not work due to the alkali in the cement.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvelsthanks Matt fr your valuable advise

I didn't find any paddles quite like what I wanted in local Lowes, Home Depot or Ace stores. The design took 1/2 hr, each print uses about $0.50-$1.00 worth of plastic and the steel rods were in my junk pile. Still, that said, yes, you'd be ahead if you could find something in a local store that worked.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels could you please share a link for the 3d print for both attachments?

Maybe put link in description box of the vid. He posted a link in one of the comments. So it’s there. Just gotta look for it @sunfish

I used suave shampoo. Seems to work great.

@@MattWellandMiscMarvels does the finished aircrete have a scent from the shampoo? I was going to make some blocks to build a 3 sided wall around my yurt wood stove to protect the wall next to the stove and to absorb some of the extra heat but don’t want to have it smelling like shampoo.

@@mainelyelectric No, you won't be able to smell the shampoo, the concentration is far to low. Good luck!

I agree, just like a souffle it is very easy to fail with aircrete. I tried to make my mixer large for that reason but eventually I gave up on aircrete. I think styrocrete is likely a better option. I'm experimenting with some alternatives also.

Add 1 lb of portland cement to 1 cup water, mix well, add foam until you have a 1/2 gallon of aircrete mix. I put the spreadsheet I use on my aircrete site here: www.kiatoa.com/cgi-bin/fossils/matt/wiki?name=Aircrete. NOTE: I have not tested the ratios I gave but I do use the 5 gallon numbers you can see on the spreadsheet.

Consulte este sitio web: www.domegaia.com/

You can't use glass fiber - it is weakened by the alkali of the portland cement. However this stuff works great: smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CODWAE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 - note that you will need very little for each batch. I use 10-20 grams of fiber for five gallons of aircrete

After about 24 hrs it is firm but not ready to remove from the mold. After two or three days it can be taken out of the mold.

I used suave shampoo when this video was done. I'm using Drexel foaming agent now but there are now better options available. There is a guy doing aircrete in Tucson, name is Don, he has a KZfaq channel but I can't find it right now, anyhow he found a really good non toxic option. Hopefully I can find his information. Others have suggested carpet cleaning shampoo.

You mean no steel rebar etc? Aircrete is not concrete and usage is different. A polyester mesh is used on the outer and possibly inner surfaces for structural strength, this is tensile strength (outer surface) and compressive strength (inner surface). All that said, note that I was never successful in making aircrete reliably and I gave up on it. Using it will need some research to find out why it works great sometimes and collapses other times.

Good idea. I think someone has tried something similar and it works well. I have gone to using a foam maker as it is less hassle.

Hi Ralph, thanks for the reply, you can get ratios from the dome gaia site at www.domegaia.com/how-to-make-aircrete.html

Yes, small quantities of fine sand but I'm not sure i understand why you'd want to. The compressive strength will still be lower than concrete due to the air bubbles.

Hye Matt , I am from India we recently started manufacturing foaming agent .You can use sand by passing it through siever this increases the weight of the brick . Matt I would like to connect with you to share my work

@@atultikmani3699 Hi Atul, I'm glad to hear about a new foaming agent! Please share your web site and information and if you have videos share your youtube site also! You can contact me at matt @ kiatoa . com

If you measure carefully the density is pretty consistent. I believe cement off gasses co2 and absorbs water for a while. I'll put aside a piece and weigh it periodically and put the results into a video. That would be interesting information.

I think sand would make it heavy and collapse the bubbles but I didn't try it. Maybe very fine sand will work.

I think it would work but it would be very expensive!

Hi Helen, I have looked for fine sand but cannot find any at the local hardware stores. I'm a bit unsure if fine sand will make the aircrete stronger or otherwise better.

Matt Welland Hi Matt sorry for the stress. I don't live in the US so I might not be able to tell you how to get the fine sand but perhaps if there's a store that sells concrete materials, especially the aggregates then you might be able to find it. Fine sand is the type used in stucco (plaster sand). It is really smooth almost like cement, that's what I'd recommend however you can try what's called sharp sand. I recommended fine sand because of the density of foam. It can disperse easily and won't settle like sharp sand could because the air bubbles in the foam might not be able to hold the Weight of the sharp sand particle but it is still very worth trying. Some people use fly ash in place of fine sand... The sharp sand (fine aggregates) is the one used in concrete making (along with small rocks called coarse aggregate). Together with cement, they increase the density of concrete. Yea, so sand would definitely increase the density of your foamcrete blocks. I'm sure there are one or two research papers that can give a better understanding of what we are talking about. Again, sorry for the stress. If you try again, let me know. PS: the sand would cut the cost of cement needed to achieve the same density of concrete. I hope to start my channel soon

@@ngreat4390 Thanks for sharing the info, Where are you from? I've thought that ash could be a nice plus in the mix, What proportions would You use with it and with fine sand? Eager to see your channel!

My other video has some results and so far .... meh. But I figure I'm learning something new and this may take a while. The days are getting longer and it is warming up - I'll start my next round of making aircrete sometime in the next few weeks.

Looking forward to it. It’s hardly easy working out a process using different tools... introduces different factors to take into comsideration.

Haha! Yes, that might be true. Still, how to find the best way without trying all reasonable possibilities? The quality did vary but the aircrete made by this method was ok for my purposes.

Actually that batch came out ok. I put the project aside for quite a while and got back to it recently. Follow the ratios from the dome gaia site www.domegaia.com/ and it will work well. The frothing method works ok but is time consuming. I have since made a foamer like the one advertised on the dome gaia site. I think anyone serious about making aircrete should buy the dome gaia foamer.

I think that batch was too thin but it still came out OK. If you have good, long lasting foam the aircrete is quite tolerant of abit too much water in the slurry mix.

Lance Rudy. I doubt if its been given a value...Look up the value of a thermalite (interior) block and adjust for the thickness...This should be fairly close.

You can see some of the aircrete i made in my other videos but I stopped using that method since I built a foamer which is easier.

My thoughts exactly. Where the hell is the video showing us the resulting panel you wasted all of our time mixing? Lame.

You are right but my purpose is not to provide top notch videography but instead to merely share my trials and tribulations on finding a working methodology for using aircrete.

Hi Ralph, you can ask any questions you have here. I couldn't find you on Whatsapp. You can ask your questions here and I'll do my best to answer.

005573999621167

Ah, yes, the first syllable is very short. Dunno where I got that long syllable habit. At least I only called it concrete once (or was it twice?)!

Hi Nair, I'm a back yard experimenter with limited resources. I do wear a filter mask now, what other issues did you see? Thank you for the feedback. I do take it seriously.