Hi,

If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:

1. can I just use bog standard concrete or cement?

2. how do I frost proof it?

3. how do I colour the cement?

4. anybody had a go at this?

Thanks,

Andy.

Andy Evans wrote:
Hi,

If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:

1. can I just use bog standard concrete or cement?


Yes

2. how do I frost proof it?


Heh!

3. how do I colour the cement?


Paint it after hardend

4. anybody had a go at this?


No.

Thanks,

Andy.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Maybe you could ask one of your man servants for me ? They might do this
sort of thing in your extensive gardens?

Andy.

"The3rd Earl Of Derby" wrote in message
. uk...
Andy Evans wrote:
Hi,

If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:

1. can I just use bog standard concrete or cement?


Yes

2. how do I frost proof it?


Heh!

3. how do I colour the cement?


Paint it after hardend

4. anybody had a go at this?


No.

Thanks,

Andy.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Might be difficult to avoid voids in the mould. Maybe one of the
levelling componds would work?

I've used FebTone mortar colouring and found it works well.

Andy Evans wrote:
Maybe you could ask one of your man servants for me ? They might do
this sort of thing in your extensive gardens?

Andy.


I say, I don't have silly ornaments in the grounds of my residence.


--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Andy Evans wrote:
Hi,

If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:
snip
4. anybody had a go at this?

Sort of.

Look at http://www.mauve.plus.com/Chinese-Lantern.jpg
The base was cast in one bit using a mould made from several sheets of
polystyrene glued together.
This was then cut with a hot wire to a template.
Then the inner core was removed, and with a plywood box round the mould
to stop it flying apart under pressure, concrete poured in.

Also.
Have made several smaller mouldings from silicone moulds, from Aldi.
They had tubes of silicone sealant at 89p.
Take a suitable object, cover it in wax.
Take the sealant, and mix it with a damp alkali, so it sets in 5 min.
Cover object to be copied.
Wait 20 mins or so, remove.
Now, place in oven at 80C, and make up some cement using hot 1:3
cement-sand or so, with just enough boiling water to make up enough to use,
and add some accellerator.

Cover with a bit of foil or plastic, so it doesn't dry out, and wait
half an hour or so.

Hi Ian,

"Ian Stirling" wrote in message
...
Andy Evans wrote:
Hi,

If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:
snip
4. anybody had a go at this?

Sort of.

Look at http://www.mauve.plus.com/Chinese-Lantern.jpg
The base was cast in one bit using a mould made from several sheets of
polystyrene glued together.
This was then cut with a hot wire to a template.
Then the inner core was removed, and with a plywood box round the mould
to stop it flying apart under pressure, concrete poured in.

Nice base. Must have been tricky cutting the polystyrene and getting the
legs correct?

Andy.

I'll check it out - thanks.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I've used FebTone mortar colouring and found it works well.

Andy Evans wrote:
Hi Ian,

"Ian Stirling" wrote in message
...
Andy Evans wrote:
Hi,

If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:
snip
4. anybody had a go at this?

Sort of.

Look at http://www.mauve.plus.com/Chinese-Lantern.jpg
The base was cast in one bit using a mould made from several sheets of
polystyrene glued together.
This was then cut with a hot wire to a template.
Then the inner core was removed, and with a plywood box round the mould
to stop it flying apart under pressure, concrete poured in.

Nice base. Must have been tricky cutting the polystyrene and getting the
legs correct?

Not really.
You make a cube of polystyrene (more or less).
Ideally, you'd buy it, they cast them as 8'*4'*4' blocks, which'd be
handy, but are not widely available.

Now, take a paper template, and draw
_______
| |
| _____ |
// \\
// \\
|| ||

Well - sorta - on it.

Now, replicate this onto two sides.
Obtain or make a large hot-wire cutter, comprising a hot wire on a
horizontal table, going up high enough that it clears the top.

Place on table, and cut round shape.
Rotate 90 degrees, tape up any loose bits securely, and repeat.

Now, simply dissasemble all the bits that fell off, remove the bit that
will become the void in the middle, and reassemble, bearing in mind
bouyancy forces.
Place upside down, and drill a hole into the cavity.
Now, dribble cement into the cavity (NOT ACCELLERATED!) with a 1:3
cement-sand mix, made up to a mashed potato sort of consistency.
Using a bit of stick, encourage the cement down the hole, repeating till
you see it coming out of the legs.
Leave to set - it'll get quite warm, which is why you don't put
accellerator in, otherwise it may crack.
Remove from mould, and finish.

Andy Evans wrote:
If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:
1. can I just use bog standard concrete or cement?

Yup.


2. how do I frost proof it?

Add a waterproofing/frostproofing admixture (available from BMs in
2 1/2L containers, which will be *plenty*).


3. how do I colour the cement?

With cement dye.


4. anybody had a go at this?

Only for window cills & garage castings.

An excellent example of cement colouring agent orange

http://www.writersontheloose.com/lar...Ejpg&largest=1

http://www.writersontheloose.com/lar...Ejpg&largest=1

Andy Evans wrote:
Hi,

If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:

1. can I just use bog standard concrete or cement?

2. how do I frost proof it?

3. how do I colour the cement?

4. anybody had a go at this?

Thanks,

Andy.

Ian answered pretty thoroughly. I'll just add there are various
decoration methods such as including glass crumb in the mix for a
little sparkle, brick dust for red colouring, and of course the mould
could be lined with red/white./etc cement or mix then filled with the
cheaper grey.

Also if you mix soil in you can get plant life to grow on it, giving a
very natural type of finish.

Metal powder can be included in the slip lining to change appearance
once again - dont use steel/iron though, it expands with force.

Finally one can dump a fair amount of rubbish into the core with
non-hollow ornaments. Stones, broken bricks, general rubble.


To make glass crumb, put glass and a brick in the cement mixer and run
it for a bit before adding the cement and sand.

Finally if you have limbs etc that are prone to breaking off, adding 1%
plastic fibres increases tensile strength of the crete. Or 5% alkali
resistant glass fibre.


NT

wrote:

Ian answered pretty thoroughly. I'll just add there are various
decoration methods such as including glass crumb in the mix for a
little sparkle, brick dust for red colouring, and of course the mould
could be lined with red/white./etc cement or mix then filled with the
cheaper grey.

Also if you mix soil in you can get plant life to grow on it, giving a
very natural type of finish.

Metal powder can be included in the slip lining to change appearance
once again - dont use steel/iron though, it expands with force.

Finally one can dump a fair amount of rubbish into the core with
non-hollow ornaments. Stones, broken bricks, general rubble.


To make glass crumb, put glass and a brick in the cement mixer and run
it for a bit before adding the cement and sand.

Finally if you have limbs etc that are prone to breaking off, adding 1%
plastic fibres increases tensile strength of the crete. Or 5% alkali
resistant glass fibre.


NT

Fascinating stuff. The soil idea is interesting - never heard of that
before.

Cheers

Tim

wrote:
Might be difficult to avoid voids in the mould. Maybe one of the
levelling componds would work?

Saw something similar on 'The Salvager'. He used a cheapo oscilliting
sander on the mould to vibrate the concrete in. Worth a try.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

The Medway Handyman wrote:
wrote:
Might be difficult to avoid voids in the mould. Maybe one of the
levelling componds would work?

Saw something similar on 'The Salvager'. He used a cheapo oscilliting
sander on the mould to vibrate the concrete in. Worth a try.

i expect sds+chisel would make an effective vibrating poker - but you
might need a robust mould!

NT

wrote:
Andy Evans wrote:
Hi,

If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:

1. can I just use bog standard concrete or cement?

2. how do I frost proof it?

3. how do I colour the cement?

4. anybody had a go at this?

Thanks,

Andy.

Ian answered pretty thoroughly. I'll just add there are various
decoration methods such as including glass crumb in the mix for a
little sparkle, brick dust for red colouring, and of course the mould
could be lined with red/white./etc cement or mix then filled with the
cheaper grey.

Also if you mix soil in you can get plant life to grow on it, giving a
very natural type of finish.

Metal powder can be included in the slip lining to change appearance
once again - dont use steel/iron though, it expands with force.

Finally one can dump a fair amount of rubbish into the core with
non-hollow ornaments. Stones, broken bricks, general rubble.


To make glass crumb, put glass and a brick in the cement mixer and run
it for a bit before adding the cement and sand.

Finally if you have limbs etc that are prone to breaking off, adding 1%
plastic fibres increases tensile strength of the crete. Or 5% alkali
resistant glass fibre.


NT


Steel wire in the limbs also works as it puts half of the limb into
compression when force is applied. Mild steel quickly rusts and breaks
the ornament if used, which may be a good thing in some cases.

Ah yes, if you want to imitate stone, use that stone as powder or
flakes instead of as much sand as possible.

I suppose you could also cast a stripey jacket by alternating layers of
grey / white / red mortars, but I hope no-one would ever try it. Candy
cane fence posts anyone?


NT

On 06 May 2006 20:23:56 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:

Andy Evans wrote:
Hi,

If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:
snip
4. anybody had a go at this?

Sort of.

Look at http://www.mauve.plus.com/Chinese-Lantern.jpg
The base was cast in one bit using a mould made from several sheets of
polystyrene glued together.
This was then cut with a hot wire to a template.
Then the inner core was removed, and with a plywood box round the mould
to stop it flying apart under pressure, concrete poured in.

Also.
Have made several smaller mouldings from silicone moulds, from Aldi.
They had tubes of silicone sealant at 89p.
Take a suitable object, cover it in wax.
Take the sealant, and mix it with a damp alkali, so it sets in 5 min.
Cover object to be copied.
Wait 20 mins or so, remove.
Now, place in oven at 80C, and make up some cement using hot 1:3
cement-sand or so, with just enough boiling water to make up enough to use,
and add some accellerator.

Cover with a bit of foil or plastic, so it doesn't dry out, and wait
half an hour or so.

Could you make up a more detailed work schedule, particularly the
chemistry bit?

I am sure it would be of interest to a fair few people.

"Owain" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Might be difficult to avoid voids in the mould. Maybe one of the
levelling componds would work?

Put it on a vibrating support?

Owain


Don't be vulgar, he wants them to put in the garden not the bedroom.

EricP wrote:
On 06 May 2006 20:23:56 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:
snip
Have made several smaller mouldings from silicone moulds, from Aldi.
They had tubes of silicone sealant at 89p.

This is acetoxy cure silicone.
Easily tellable by the lack of 'low odour' on the packaging, probably
the word acetoxy somewhere in the small print, and a violent smell of
vinegar.

Take a suitable object, cover it in wax.

Brushing it on hot works well for many objects.
The idea of course is that it doesn't stick.

Take the sealant, and mix it with a damp alkali, so it sets in 5 min.

The sealant cures by absorbing water, and having acetic acid removed
from it.
If you add a damp alkali to the sealant, then the sealant then does not
absorb/evaporate this to the air, and it cures fast.
As an example, damp bicarbonate of soda I found worked well.
You've got to experiment to get the right dosage of course.
A coat of this sealant thinned with paint thinner can be painted on
first, to enhance fine detail.
Using bicarbonate of soda means that it foams slightly as it sets, which
can be good.
Using some other alkali, that does not have CO2 in - I had some tin
oxide polish - means that it sets rapidly without foaming.

Cover object to be copied.
Wait 20 mins or so, remove.

This is when the mould is fully set.
You might want to leave it another day just in case before rmeoving.

Now, place in oven at 80C, and make up some cement using hot 1:3
cement-sand or so, with just enough boiling water to make up enough to use,
and add some accellerator.

This is just so that it sets much, much faster, and you don't need to
leave it a day or two before turning out the mould.

Cover with a bit of foil or plastic, so it doesn't dry out, and wait
half an hour or so.

This ios because if the concrete dries out while setting, it'll be weak.

Could you make up a more detailed work schedule, particularly the
chemistry bit?

I am sure it would be of interest to a fair few people.
Anything else?

wrote:
Andy Evans wrote:
Hi,

If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:
snip
Finally if you have limbs etc that are prone to breaking off, adding 1%

Then don't stick them in the cement mixer

Chris Bacon wrote:
Andy Evans wrote:
If I wanted to make my own garden ornaments using a latex mould:
1. can I just use bog standard concrete or cement?

Yup.


2. how do I frost proof it?

Add a waterproofing/frostproofing admixture (available from BMs in
2 1/2L containers, which will be *plenty*).


3. how do I colour the cement?

With cement dye.

In some cases, you can coat the outside of the mould (the bit that'll be
visible) with a thinnish layer of concrete with dye in, then pour on the
rest.
Much cheaper than colouring invisible stuff.
Also, start off with a concrete more or less the right colour if
possible.
The appropriate colour of sand, and use of white cement in some cases
may do wonders.

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:
Andy Evans wrote:
Maybe you could ask one of your man servants for me ? They might do
this sort of thing in your extensive gardens?

Andy.


I say, I don't have silly ornaments in the grounds of my residence.

You don't even have grounds at your tower block

On Sat, 06 May 2006 23:16:33 +0100, Tim S wrote:

Fascinating stuff. The soil idea is interesting - never heard of that
before.

The late, lamented Geoff Hamilton showed how to make fake limestone (he
called it hypertufa, dunno why) as an alternative to ripping off ancient
limestone pavements. Forget the ratios but it was basically coir fibre and
a cement mix, with colouring to taste, poured into a mould made by digging
a hole in the ground and lining it with polythene. I think he put a bit of
chicken wire in to strenghthen it. I recall he'd take it out when it was
set firm but not quite hard and wire-brush the surface to give it a rough
look. The coir encouraged stuff to grow on it to give a natural organic
look.

Google would probably throw up more information but that's cheating :-)

On Sat, 06 May 2006 14:31:01 -0700, Rusty Nail wrote:

An excellent example of cement colouring agent orange

http://www.writersontheloose.com/lar...Ejpg&largest=1

http://www.writersontheloose.com/lar...Ejpg&largest=1

LOL!