How are you getting along with your substitute for wood?

‘I thought you had forgotten all about that.’

I haven't and I hope you haven't either.

‘Actually, I have given it some more thought while you have been going on and on but I still don't see how I can consolidate all those different bits together when they are all wet and sticky. You might be able to do it by hand; by a machine, never.’

You are up against a process impossibility, in fact?

‘Yes, I suppose so.’

Well, if you can't beat them join them. If the only possible way of putting it all together is by leaving the water out, accept the fact and see where it leads you.

‘If I had a box made of flat steel plates, whose inside was the exact shape of a wooden beam or slab, I could then take one edge off and drop the materials in their relative positions from hoppers, as in Fig. 27. The air passages would be formed by tubes with their lower ends fixed to the bottom edge of the box. I would probably have to use vibration to help the materials in and even then I might have air voids.‘