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sunsetter

good stuff, awaiting more

danno5

Looking forward to another Loombucket thread!

Loombucket

Thanks everyone.

After a spot of metalwork, the team gerd themselves into a frenzy of inconsequence, and plant frames all along the back wall.



God kept up the pace, and had the others in stiches.



By close of play, we had frames all along the back. They are talking about putting the front Khaan in tomorrow, so I need to get some shade and a chair sorted.

Archer

LoomBucket
Can you please tell how many miles The Wall will be and cost estimate?
And when will Pink Floyd come play?

Cheers
/Archer

Loombucket

The wall will be metres, not miles, and I have the costs somewhere. To be honest, I'm having enough trouble finding all the pic's, so please be patient.

Pink Floyd have, as yet, not replied to my e-mails, but we did play the 'HeBeGeBes' version of Michael Jackson's (RIP) 'Off the wall', when we tested the lights near the end.

Archer

Sorry about the mile. I just read another thread about farangs "stealing" land from the poor farmers in Esaan
Nice pitures, are this the same crew that built you house?
Will you put anything on top of the wall to keep out the "wild animals"?

Cheers
/Archer

smeden

nice pics keep them comming

blackgang

LET'S BUILD A WALL.

Said by Joe Stalin in 1945 at Berlin Germany

LETS TEAR THIS WALL DOWN.

Said by Ron Reagan 1985 at Washington DC.

Archer

And Pink Floyd actualy did it in 1990

Loombucket

I oversleep and by the time I have downed that 'all important first coffee' and found my shorts, the front trench is looking crowded.



Khaans are being tweaked so that they hook onto the uprights,



...and here is the first one in position.



Where the level drops, you can see how it starts to fit together.



The first of the long sides is threaded though the uprights.



Meanwhile, they have started shuttering the front and Sing is busy making some spacers to maintain an even width.



Complicated twiddly bits at the right angle and everything wired together.



Shuttering and fine tuning takes the rest of the morning. A splash of water (Nam) ...



...and we're off



As the gloopy mass nears the top, the spacers are plucked out,



...and the top is smoothed off.



The first thousand blocks then arrive and are carefully placed into two large piles.



The two guys at the back are desperately trying to keep ahead of the rapidly advancing collum of gloop,



...as it heads towards the first turn.



At the last minute, the advance is halted by an unexpected bit of wood that drops off and gets buried, forcing A? to show off his skill with a tape measure.



That's pretty much it for the day. Walking round a bit later, I noticed that they had blocked and filled the back pillars already.



It was then that I realised what Sing had been going on about when he said 'not square'. These two posts are the line of the, as yet, unstarted other side. Notice that it goes through the garden.

Loombucket

It's another hot one already and the photos and the notebooks don't tally. We have nine people running amok, divided into two teams. Khun Sing has some personal problems, my wheelbarrow has been secunded, again, the gass has run out in the kitchen and 'some kind person' has unplugged the charger for the camera. Other than that, we proceed as normall .

Covers off, Sing makes a start on tweaking the pillar rods.



Extra binders are added and the site is carefully measured to get a uniform size for the pillars.



Khun Lee then goes into hyperdrive and starts laying bricks with gusto.



Meanwhile, around the back, there's a spot of 'good old fashioned time wasting', before the main event.



It seems that we are waiting for this important bit, so that we can make it to the corner,



...and the conga line advances a bit further.



The last mix of the day,



...and the subsequent rush to pour it. Notice the wall in the background that the others have managed.



A shot from the front balcony.



A bit of bad news, my wonderfull, Isaan style wheelbarrow has suffered massive bearing failure. Whilst the bearings are not exactly high tech, it's still a pain and the lads are forbidden to borrow it again.



The news is taken in good spirit. In fact, they are still laughing as they pull off down the drive.

Loombucket

No, this lot are from a moo ban about 5Km away


Maybe some railing at the front.

Loombucket

After the dissapointingly poor performance of the camera batteries, yesterday, I am in no mood for trifles. I stride about with some sort of purpose but the team doesn't want to play. The decent brickie and the joker are on another job and the others are behaving like someone has died. Lacking the necessary language skills to make respectfull enquiries, I bide my time and mooch about looking for wildlife. Then I notice that we have had a visit from the hard wood batten fairy.



I have no idea what they could, possibly, be used for, yet.

Meanwhile, down at the wall site, the covers are off and Khun Chy, the Apprentice, has drawn the short straw. He gets started with enthusiasm but is painfully slow.



At the other end of the garden, Sing is preparing the ground for the back beam and, late arriving, Somchai prepares to burst forth with his own vairiations of laying bricks like a loony.



Chy makes it past the tree.



Here is a close up of the metal hook that goes trough the pillar frame and hooks onto the blocks either side. When the blocks are the right hight, and there is room to move, the linking rods will be wired to a binder so that when the pillar gets poured, the blocks will be solid.



The back beam goes in and my attention is drawn to the handy looking crow bar. Good for lifting concrete methinks.



Somchai has gone into hyperdrive.



By Lunch time, Chy has managed three courses at the tall end,



...and Chit is making good headway shuttering the back beam.



The block Elves then arrive with another thousand, or so.



...and the team knock off early, for some reason. At last we get a smile.



Late in the day, we can see where all the blocks have gone.

Loombucket

Today, they say, it is going to rain and the Company want a decision about the last, not square side. They say that they can get the tractor over later today, if only I would make up my mind. I had not realised this, of couse, because no one had actually mentioned it.

"Off with the last post", I cried, in the style of some mad king.



With a real sense of urgency, or pre-rain excitement, the lads were throwning themselves at it.



They got the beam poured in double quick time,



...just before the rain started.



This was a good excuse for a little down time,



..and the odd nap.



It rained for about an hour, then there was a little of the 'wiring the block links to the binders' that we dicussed earlier.



The tractor then appeared and Sing marked out a new line with rope and a few, well placed, plastic bags.



I've been struggling to remember the guys name, not that it makes any difference, but he did a good job and the loss of a part of the front garden didn't seem quite so bad. Gate will have to open on the other side though.



Meanwhile, out the front, the boys enjoy a spot of gossip over the garden wall as the water pipe level gets another look-in.



Extra metal is cut for the pillars and stuff,



...before the hevens open again and we have to shelter in the porch for an adhoc master class in base plate construction.

Loombucket

No work today. No excuse offered but I suspect that the Company thought that the ground would be a tad damp.

Loombucket

We have a skeleton crew of three and the first job is to get the covers off the back beam,



...to enable the sight board to be relocated.



Once the string is back into position, block laying recommences.



We hit the wall with the usual two pronged attack,





...but it doesn't last. Real, Isaan style rain is soon upon us and the lads make a run for it. More of a slip and slide really.



The locals have the same idea, but that's it for the day.

Loombucket

It's a little soggy underfoot and we are, nearly, two days behind. Much to be done so we start with a spot of measuring,



...and marking out, for the 'last side' pillars.



Leaving the team to get on with the digging, Sing sets up the surviving tressle, produces an electric plane and starts adding wood shavings to the floor?????



All is revealed,



...it's half of a two part pillar case, or mould.



These are put together rapidly as the other half of the team alternate between digging,



...and hiding from the sun, which is well hot.



Planing over, Sing carefully measures,



...and marks,



...so that the cases can be put on,



....and wired together.



Cracks are filled with wet cement bags rammed in tight.



Here is a view inside the mould.



It's Nuy's turn to pour the gloop,



...and he does a pretty good job.



The last side has been dug, planted and poured,



and the guys are all a bit knackered. Time for a beer.

DrAndy

fuk me Loom, that is a wall to end all walls

I love the make do and mend attitude of the village workers. They can knock something up out of scraps and it works well

I was watching some builders making a wall in the UK, essentially the same. They had all sorts of premade jigs and spacers, but the wall looked the same in the end. Saving worker time becomes paramount when they are being paid £8+ per hour

__________________
keep 'em coming

Mathos

This really is a brilliant thread LB.

Deserves plenty of credit and appreciation for the careful and interesting work you are putting into the same.

Cheers and thanks.

Loombucket

Thanks. We looked at many different ways to do it, but decided, in the end, to go with the stronger, more solid approach.


Praise indeed from an exellent role model.