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Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

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231–240 of 278 posts

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose it's subjective but Crinkle Crankle is better because it sounds so ridiculous. Ribbon Wall doesn't sound any more ridiculous than same-shaped Ribbon Candy ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribbon_candy ) or Ribbon Cables ( https://www.fxpstore.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ribbon-w... ), and ribbons don't call to mind atrocities or human suffering. Battlefields are terrible places where horrific things happe…

Crinkle crinkle wall has to be the most British sounding britishism ever. Like something that would have been a subject of serious research at the Ministry of Silly Walls.

True dat, bruv.

And that's jenga.

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#232

The same reason is why my roof has corrugated metal sheeting, rather than plate. This was a question I had students prove out. With the bending moment of inertia being related to the cube of the thickness for a flat plate, the maths trickles out very quickly.

We need your expertise here please: ttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36899973

Thank you, hopefully I've been some form help or at least some food for thought.

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#233

I see this a lot in the rural US with wooden fences but had no idea why it was done, but I guess its for the same reason (stability). Apparently they've done it since the 1600s. https://www.louispage.com/blog/bid/11160/worm-fence-what-is-... Still, this seemed totally unecessary until I realized this mean they dont have to put any posts into the ground. No digging holes, which would be really nice when you're trying…

I used to make fences in Wales, with it famously rocky ground. The fences we made were effectively straight lines which were bound at each terminal point by big posts dug into the ground and braced with side struts. Installing one of these posts could take a full day.

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The religious group that funds it has a questionable relationship to science including and despite "Science" being in its name. (It was started as a 19th Century anti-hospital group. We'd consider them "proto-anti-vax" in today's concerns and terminology.) They may be unbiased in reporting the news, generally, but there's still concerns about their relationship to reporting science given their name and the known beli…

...being anti-hospital in the 19th century sounds fairly rational to me?

Treating a hospital as an absolute last resort in the 19th century would be rational, but I'm not sure being "anti-hospital" would be.

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#235
post #78

Soda cans also have a counterintuitive efficiency feature: concave bottoms. If a can with a flat bottom held the same amount of soda, it would be shorter and have less surface area, but its metal body would need to be thicker to withstand the same pressure. In the end, it'd require more aluminum. https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/Science-Notebook/2015/0414... ^Probably not the best article for this, but it was easy t…

Engineer Guy (Bill Hammack) has a great video about this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUhisi2FBuw Edit: Just realized this is the same video you referenced. All of his work is fantastic.

> All of his work is fantastic.

Even that is an understatement, I love those videos

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point. I'd say if you're tight on money I'm not sure a wall should be at the top of your to-buy list.

Historically, lots of countries had laws saying you had to enclose your land. If you didn't, then you might lose it. In the days before wire, brick walls were a cheap longlasting enclosure method, especially if wood or stones weren't easily available.

wire dates to ancient sumeria i think; it was used for money before coins (because it's easy to measure out any desired amount of gold or silver)

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is so bad at naming things! A Serpentine Wall sounds better than a Worm Fence or Snake Fence. Crinkle Crankle Wall is a bit more fun than ZigZag Fence. A Ribbon Wall seems like a nice thing to have on your property vs a Battlefield Fence.

That's just like, your opinion man. Worm is a cool word. Maybe we can compromise and call it a wyrm fence.

Wyrm = dragon. Wyrmwall/fence would actually be a cool name.

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#238

I see this a lot in the rural US with wooden fences but had no idea why it was done, but I guess its for the same reason (stability). Apparently they've done it since the 1600s. https://www.louispage.com/blog/bid/11160/worm-fence-what-is-... Still, this seemed totally unecessary until I realized this mean they dont have to put any posts into the ground. No digging holes, which would be really nice when you're trying…

The US is so bad at naming things! A Serpentine Wall sounds better than a Worm Fence or Snake Fence. Crinkle Crankle Wall is a bit more fun than ZigZag Fence. A Ribbon Wall seems like a nice thing to have on your property vs a Battlefield Fence.

I grew up around these fences and never heard them called anything but a split-rail fence. Seems apt.

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#239
post #47

Corrugated cardboard just is a wavy wall, sandwiched in between two straight walls. You can also observe corrugated steel and its use in construction, shipping containers, etc. Because these are steel and stronger than paper, the sandwich layers are not needed

If it wasn’t for fashion it would probably be the most popular building material for roofs. Make your roof out of that and at an angle and you probably never worry about leaks for decades.

Re: Wavy walls use fewer bricks than a straight wall (2020)

#240

This feels a bit like diet clickbait... "use fewer bricks than a straight wall"* *A straight wall of the approximal strength and length of a wavy wall, not just length. My counter would be that from a practical perspective the amount of space wasted by the wavy design seems to negate the usefulness of the design. Probably makes the lawn crew dizzy when mowing it too!

No space is wasted, unless you need to squeeze in a rectangle thing (e.g. tennis court, driveway) into a tight lot. But boundary disputes in urban areas are already bad enough so trying to define a wavey boundary wont be fun! That said how much freaking character would this add to a back garden!
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