No, this is not a sports cup. And not a table or chair leg. The company that produces such wooden products says that each product is a person. Well, or its most important part, the head. We will now tell you how this “user profile” came into being and why it is needed.
Once upon a time there lived in Colorado Springs a certain Tom Beshara. And he had two daughters. The first was born in 1977, the second in 1979. And one day Tom wanted to somehow immortalize his children at their early age. For memory. In such cases, besides taking photos and videos, what do parents do?
Well, for example, they put the child’s hand on a piece of paper and trace it along the contour. You can do the same with a child's leg. But Beshara was not satisfied with this, he wanted something else.
As he came up with something new, Tom remembered his wife Laurie having an ultrasound and seeing his daughter's profile inside her mom's belly. From this memory the concept began to emerge.
But in this boy’s profiles the noses do not match (photo from turnyourhead.com).
Bechard’s passion for optical illusions, as well as the works of such artists as Escher and Dali, also played a role. Today Tom calls these artists masterminds.
And so the caring father asked himself a number of difficult questions. Is it possible to capture the space surrounding a person's profile? If so, what should we call this space? Is there a way to make this space a solid object?
To all of this, Beshara finally got the answer “yes.” It turned out that the profile can be preserved in a three-dimensional wooden form. So Tom “stopped the moment” by carving out the profiles of his daughters. And with that I calmed down.
But it was not there. Relatives and guests began to ask the master to do the same for them. Beshara always refused these pleas, saying that “this is exclusively for my children and no one else.”
The photo on the left shows how to properly take a photo with a piece of paper. On the right, accordingly, is an unacceptable option (photo from turnyourhead.com).
Only in 2002, the grown-up daughters were able to convince their dad that it makes sense to create profiles for other people. For money, of course. Yielding to persuasion, in 2004 Beshara opened the company Turn Your Head, the name of which can also be translated as “Turn your head on a lathe.”
The company calls the products provided to customers “Pirolette”. Here's what they say about them: “We fill the space between two opposing profiles of your face, twisting that space into a three-dimensional appearance [...].
Put your face on Pirolette. You will see an exact match to your profile. Place Pirolette near a wall and the cast shadow will be your silhouette. Your profile is forever captured in a piece of art that is absolutely unique because it is you!”
The company's assortment: “Pirolette” made of different types of wood (photo from turnyourhead.com).
Now let’s talk about how you can get the “wooden self”. First you will need a strip of paper 216 millimeters long, a camera with a self-timer, or people who will take your picture.
The paper is a scale ruler. Using it, the company enlarges the photograph so that the photograph is life-size. Other details of the production process are a company secret.
Before taking photos, you should remove your glasses and take care of your facial hair. It is better if it is clean-shaven: a mustache and beard “distort” the profile, so Turn Your Head may not even undertake the creation of “Pirolette” (although it does not hide the possibility of an error within 2 millimeters).
After dealing with vegetation, you need to choose an absolutely neutral, uniform background, ideally an empty white wall. Stand next to her, holding the paper next to your head, and try not to have any expression on your face. Managed? Let the bird fly away.
Of all the variety of construction technologies, this method of building houses is the most unusual and interesting. If we add to this the minimum cost, absolute environmental friendliness and impressive durability, then you will probably want to get to know it in more detail.
In Russian, this technology is given the not very euphonious name “clay-churk”.
In English it is called cordwood, which translates as “woodpile”. Both terms quite accurately define the essence of the technique, since its basis is ordinary firewood.
It is from this material, more familiar to us as heating fuel, that original and high-quality houses are built in America, Europe and Russia.
The history of clay-wood houses goes back centuries. And today, across the ocean, you can see buildings erected using this technology by the first settlers. In Russia, houses made of firewood have been preserved in the former possessions of Count Leo Tolstoy. They were built by its peasants in the 19th century and still look quite presentable.
The clay pot technology is applicable to any type of building, from chicken coops, sheds, garages, bathhouses to two-story country-style cottages. The load-bearing capacity of a woodpile bonded with clay is not inferior to a brick wall. Firewood is a fairly light and flexible material. Therefore, walls made from them are not afraid of shrinkage and heaving of the soil.
The main advantage of this technology is its ease of implementation. Even without special construction skills, any “average” man can build strong and even walls. To do this, you just need to periodically check the verticality and horizontality of the masonry, carefully and tightly laying the logs on the mortar.
Examples of buildings
Houses built from firewood and clay captivate with their unusual appearance and unique masonry aesthetics. Even an ordinary smokehouse built with your own hands is guaranteed to attract close interest from friends and neighbors.
If you want to build something more monumental from firewood, then very soon they will start taking tours to your house and taking pictures against its background.
Even the most modest cottage with wood-burning walls turns into a real work of wooden architecture.
A small bathhouse with an earthen roof, built using cordwood technology, retains heat perfectly. The cost of its construction is mere pennies.
A two-story cottage with wood-burning walls and an open gallery is a cozy nest for a family country holiday.
If you show a little imagination and use multi-colored glass bottles in the masonry of the walls, you can create a uniquely beautiful design not only outside, but also inside the building.
Features and secrets of technology
Building a house from wood and clay is reminiscent of brickwork. Only instead of bricks they use logs, and instead of cement mortar (although sometimes they also use it) - a mixture of clay with sand and chopped hay.
Wooden lumps are laid not along, but across the walls (in the same way as a woodpile of firewood is stacked). By firmly binding the “wooden bricks”, the clay provides the wall with exceptionally high strength and fire resistance.
To increase energy saving, the clay pot construction technology offers a special technique: the clay is spread not with a continuous strip, but with two parallel beds, 5-10 cm wide. Sawdust, perlite, ecowool or any other loose insulation material is poured into the empty space formed between the clay and logs.
The cross-section of firewood used in masonry can be any, but their length is strictly the same. The ends of the firewood can be slightly extended beyond the plane of the wall (by 3-4 cm) to give the wall an expressive relief texture.
It is better to split the firewood before laying it, because solid logs crack over time and allow moisture to penetrate deep into the walls. The bark should be removed by clearing the logs of it before construction begins.
The humidity of freshly cut “building material” should be minimal, since firewood absorbs quite a lot of moisture from the clay solution. Before starting work, they must be dried under a canopy for at least 2 months.
In addition to firewood, a house made of clay requires quite a lot of clay (20-30% of the volume of wood).
Builders arbitrarily vary the amount of masonry mortar in the wall. Some people place logs on a very thick layer of mortar.
And some people prefer dense laying of chopped firewood on relatively thin seams.
Note the wood banding at corners and near window and door openings. Here the outer logs are placed so that they extend their entire length into the adjacent wall. This is a necessary condition for a strong connection between corner joints and openings.
The configurations of clay-wood walls also differ significantly. The easiest way to build a building is round in plan, since in this case there are no problems with tying the logs at the corners. And the appearance of such a house is more expressive and original than that of a rectangular residential “box”.
Wood masonry can be used not only as the main load-bearing structure, but also to fill gaps in a wooden frame.
Mortar and firewood
To prepare the solution you need sand. It reduces the fat content of the clay and thereby reduces its cracking. It is placed in the solution in a ratio of 2 to 1 (one part clay to two parts sand).
Hay acts as an organic “reinforcement”, reducing the intensity of crack formation during drying of the solution. It will have to be cut on a straw chopping machine or manually chopped with an ax (fibers 3-5 cm long). The amount of dry grass cuttings added to the solution is 10-15% of its volume.
The volume of water is determined by eye, ensuring that the solution is sufficiently plastic, but not fluid.
Firewood of any type of wood (pine, oak, aspen, poplar, birch) is suitable for masonry. But it is impossible to combine logs cut from different types of trees in the wall due to the unequal expansion coefficient.
The length of firewood is chosen based on the climatic conditions of the region. In the southern regions, 30 cm will be enough. For the middle zone, you need to cut logs at least half a meter long. In the northern regions of Russia, the optimal length of logs is 60–70 cm.
Foundation, roofing and finishing
Since a clay-wood wall is significantly lighter than a brick wall, the foundation for it is not made too deep (60-70 cm is enough). But it is advisable to make the base higher to reduce the impact of melting snow and precipitation on the walls.
Another important point is the eaves overhang of the roof. For such buildings, it should be at least 80 cm wide. You can cover a wood-burning house with anything, but wooden shingles, straw, ceramic or bitumen shingles look best on it. Such a structure does not need finishing, but if desired, the inside can be plastered with clay mortar over wooden shingles.
While the walls are being built, they need to be protected from rain by a temporary canopy. After completing the masonry and before installing the beams and roof, the walls must be given 1-2 months to dry and gain strength.
Estimated cost and profitability of construction
The cost of constructing such a house is the lowest possible, since materials for construction do not need to be found in stores. Clay and sand can be dug up directly on the site or brought from a nearby quarry, and firewood can be purchased at the forestry department or at a sawmill. Local farmers will be happy to sell you hay.
Let's calculate how much it will cost us to build a 1m2 wall with our own hands using cordwood technology (the thickness of the logs is 50 cm). About 0.32 m3 of firewood, 0.12 m3 of clay, 0.04 m3 of sand and 2-3 kg of chopped hay are placed in one “square” of clay-wood masonry. The cost of all listed materials today does not exceed 600 rubles.
For comparison, you can take the cost of purchasing the materials necessary to build 1 m2 of a brick wall 51 cm thick, insulated with mineral wool (10 cm). They will amount to about 1800 rubles.
In addition to the symbolic price, reviews from owners of structures built using clay pot technology contain high ratings for the quality of the microclimate and energy saving. No wonder. Clay and wood not only combine optimally in the wall, but also perfectly regulate the humidity in the room. It’s never too damp or dry in a wood-burning house, and in winter, even with frost of -40C, you don’t have to wear warm clothes.
Once upon a time there lived in Colorado Springs a certain Tom Beshara. And he had two daughters. The first was born in 1977, the second in 1979. And at one fine moment Tom wanted to somehow immortalize his own kids at their early age. For memory. In such cases, besides taking photos and videos, what do ancestors do?
Well, for example, they put the child’s hand on a piece of paper and trace it along the contour. You can do the same with a child's leg.
But Beshara was not satisfied with this, he wanted something else.
As Tom came up with something new, he remembered his wife Laurie undergoing an ultrasound and how he saw the profile of his own daughter in her mother's tummy. From this memoir, a concept began to emerge.
But in the profiles of this little guy, the noses do not match (photo from the website turnyourhead.com).
Bechard’s passion for optical illusions, as well as the works of such painters as Escher and Dali, also played a role. Now Tom calls these painters ideological inspirers.
And so the diligent father asked himself a number of difficult questions. Is it possible to capture the area surrounding a person's profile? If so, what should this place be called? Is there a method to make this place a solid object?
To all of this, Beshara finally got the answer “yes.” It turned out that the profile can be saved in three-dimensional wood form. So Tom “paused the moment” by carving out the profiles of his own daughters. And with that I calmed down.
But it was not there. Relatives and guests began to ask the master to do the same for them. Beshara always refused these pleas, saying that “this is only for my kids and no one else.”
The photo on the left shows how to properly take a photo with a piece of paper. On the right, accordingly, is an unacceptable option (photo from the website turnyourhead.com).
It was only in 2002 that the grown-up daughters were able to convince their dad that it makes sense to create profiles for other people. For money, obviously. Yielding to persuasion, in 2004 Beshara opened the company Turn Your Head, the name of which can also be translated as “Turn your head on a lathe.”
The company calls the products it provides to customers “Pirolette”. Here's what they say about them: “We fill the space between 2 opposing profiles of your face, twisting this space into a three-dimensional appearance […].
Put your face on Pirolette. You will see a clear match to your profile. Place Pirolette near the wall, and the cast shadow will be your silhouette. Your profile is forever captured in a piece of art that is completely unique because it is you!”
The company's assortment: “Pirolette” made of various types of wood (photo from the website turnyourhead.com).
Now let’s talk about how you can get your “woody self.” To get started, you will need a strip of paper 216 mm long, a camera with a self-timer, or people who will take your picture.
The paper is a scale ruler. Using it, the company enlarges the image so that the photo appears in its true size. The remaining details of the production process are a company secret.
Before taking photos, you should remove your glasses and take care of your facial hair. It is better if it is clean shaven: a mustache and beard “distort” the profile, so Turn Your Head may not even undertake the creation of “Pirolette” (although it does not hide the possibility of an error within 2 mm).
After fighting the vegetation, you need to choose a completely neutral, uniform background, in the standard - an empty snow-white wall. Stand next to her, holding the paper next to your head, and try not to have any expression on your face. Managed? Let the bird fly away.
It's a shame, but aside from putting it on your head and looking at the shadow, there's not much else you can do with Pirolette (photo from turnyourhead.com).
The company recognizes that it will be very difficult to photograph very small babies with such serious requirements, so it is recommended to photograph babies while they are napping.
When the pictures are ready, select a few more successful ones, turn them into JPEG files on your computer and send them to the company by email. Upon receipt you will receive proof of acceptance of your order.
At the client's choice, Turn Your Head will make a 3D profile from walnut, cherry or maple, polish it to a shine and varnish it.
All Pirolettes are the same in size: 23 centimeters high and 13 centimeters across. It takes up to 5 weeks to create. All this costs about $150. So grind your head if you want.