An Oobleck question:

[YerK]

Has anyone tried guar gum? It's about $5K a metric ton and I do not know how long it lasts. (But then, I don't know how long any of it lasts) I've looked into it, and the $5K is the approximate cost at food grade. I think it might be cheaper to use industrial grade.

Just curious.

[Duncan Edwards]

Has anyone tried guar gum? It's about $5K a metric ton and I do not know how long it lasts. (But then, I don't know how long any of it lasts) I've looked into it, and the $5K is the approximate cost at food grade. I think it might be cheaper to use industrial grade.

Just curious.

Never tried it but I do have experience with it. Had to do work at a plant in north Texas that produced the stuff and it was nasty and slick. Most of the plant workforce consisted of rotund middle aged guys who were long past their most agile years. Slips and falls with injuries were not uncommon. They put down rubber grated mats all over the place to mitigate spills but I had to dance around quite a bit outside the office areas. $5k a ton also makes it much more expensive than any type of clay and I'm sure it's harder to get delivered as well.

[Fred588]

I will try it immediately when someone donates the $25,000.00 it will take to fill a worthwhile pit, plus the mixer rental.

Has anyone tried guar gum? It's about $5K a metric ton and I do not know how long it lasts. (But then, I don't know how long any of it lasts) I've looked into it, and the $5K is the approximate cost at food grade. I think it might be cheaper to use industrial grade.

Just curious.

[YerK]

I'm just looking for what would make a longer-lasting pit. "Starch" just seems like something that would be food for mold. I was thinking that maybe the guar gum would be less edible and maybe longer-lasting. The last thing anyone wants is a heated and contoured pit full of essentially dry cement.

[Duncan Edwards]

I'm just looking for what would make a longer-lasting pit. "Starch" just seems like something that would be food for mold. I was thinking that maybe the guar gum would be less edible and maybe longer-lasting. The last thing anyone wants is a heated and contoured pit full of essentially dry cement.

Good luck. That search has been going on for a long time. I've not seen a man made creation yet that tops Fred's clay pit for comfort and being unchanged year after year.

[YerK]

Fred's clay pit is FANTASTIC for it's designed use. (covering models with mud!) Alas, I like more of a bondage feel from mud that I play in, so Fred's pit was just too thin for me to enjoy. (well, aside from watching the videos and washing mud off models, for that it was again a very wonderful pit!)

I had more fun helping to break up the new peat pit at Fred's place than I will ever have in his current clay pit. I have suggested to Fred an idea for a much more shallow clay pit, where the clay used would be a much thicker red clay, so that models could use that for the noises it makes, and maybe as a "we can't go this way" plot item in some of the videos. (or even to set up how harmless and fun mud is, so they will go and jump right in to that deadly gray clay, later) Lots of problems with that idea, though, foremost of which is that it does not reset the way that gray pit does. Footprints just don't go away on their own, even from one day to the next. Add to that it's a tiring sort of mud to move through, and it becomes an investment of labor and such that doesn't offer near the return in use. The clay I enjoyed most as a kid had rather a lot of sand in it. The clay in the mix made it sticky, but the sand made it easier to wet down. It didn't have the ripple effect quicksand or really wet clay has, but it sure was fun, and good for throwing too, as the mud was thick enough to fling as a blob, but thin enough not to hurt when it hit.

[dlodoski]

I really don't have much to add to this thread that hasn't been mentioned already.

But I can note that the MPVBleck experiments continue, and the outlook for somewhat extended use is actually quite good.

As far as what 'somewhat extended use' means, I'm not sure.

[YerK]

Well, I may be able to find a way to gather industrial-grade ingredients for a non-newtonian pit, if someone will pm me with what they want and how much they can afford to spend on it. I did look into guar gum earlier, having seen a write-up on it as being more non-newtonian than corn starch.