Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-03-08
Mixing Cement BY Hand.

For mixing concrete by hand it is
desirable to have q mixing board at
least six feet wide and 10 feet long.
There need not be any sides on this
board, although there is no harm in
having a 2x4 around the edge, which
and water. A good board is made out
of ship lap, and this will last a Tong
time. It is of some advantage to have
This lumber laid the short way of the
board. as most OF the shoveling is lone
crosswise. The board should OF course
be bedded down firmly 50 that it will
De solid, and il not perfectly tight
SHOULD, be laid on sand or dirt, so that
there will not be any chance for any
great loss of water or cement UNDER
meath.
A great deal Of labor can often be.
saved by having the materials arrang-
the silo Is to be built. That is, the
mixing board should be located so
that the concrete, when mixed, CAN
be put directly into the buckets to be
hoisted to the silo. And the sand. of
course, should be as close>as possible
to the mixing board, so that it can
be shoveled directly on to it. II
crushed rock and sand are being used.
the coarser material should be thrown
va SAbo AAAoSs anu C11Cl I14C SAxO
on top of this, and last the cement
1t is we'll to have this material
spread out evenly on the board, and
the cement should also be spread
evenly over the other material. Then.
beginning at one end, two men with
shovels should begin working from
each side. shoveling entirely through
the material and turning it carefully
as they let it leave the shovels. This
NAV no rS101 nm IN q III Or IN $L4
center of the board. as they proceed.
After they have reached Nthe other
end Of the board, they should turn and
shovel back through the pile, exact
~ the same as before. Those who
have had experience in mixing ce-
ment n probably do q fairly good
job Of mixing by two shovelings dry.
but ordinarily it Is advisable to show
ell this dry mixture over . third time.
and throw on what would seem to be
about enough water to make the mix
ture so that it would pour. Then be-
ginning at one end shovel this over
the same as before wetting. II it Is
seen that there IL not sufficient wa
ter, a little o may be added before
it is shoveled again, and as before
wetting, it a good Job Of shoveling
has been done, twice over may be
~ q k&44SV oUVt.
cling Will do no HARM
It must be remembered that in max
ing concrete. this rather uninviting
part Of the work is really the .zaost
essential. The material may be all
right in every respect. the forms and
tanptng may be perfect, but II not
properly wet and thoroughly mixed
the best results cannot be Obtained s
1t i1 OF course advisable to nut the
concrete in place Immediately after
it is mixed, and. the. sooner the bet
err. Concrete begins to set az soon
as the water Is applied TO It, and the
further this proceeds before it is in
place, the weaker it will be after It
has finally set.
Form Need Not BE .Naborate.
The forms for building a concrete
silo need not be as-expensive and elab.
crate as sons have seemed 70 deem
necessary. Il.
A fair job Of building a silo may 30
done by building the inside form Of
1x6s nailed on to circles cut out Of
1x6s. Awed to fit the inside circum-
ference Of the silo. That II; six-inch
boards may be cut three feet long and
nailed on the c1rclea. Care must be
taken that these sections are true in
every way They should. be made and
set up on a level floor before using.
to make certain that they are right.
In order to get the circle OF the boards
used for na4liAG the 70, tak41A lx4:
and cut on It. Just ohs-half