I'm usually clear as mud in my explainations so if you have any questions feel free to contact me. :)
http://gardenrefuge.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=d8e827fd9d00ac0b0c12adbe4ee5b8f9&topic=1263.0
A how-to for making concrete pots inexpensively.
Oh thank you, thank you. Folks, I was the one who requested ah_hoya post the directions for this pot in the container forum. Isn't it beautiful? Now I'll go see if I can figure out how to do it. Thanks for posting it!
Well, I see I'm going to need to do a little more research on the subject. I'm just too new to the craft and there are many terms that I'm clueless about. I love the different colors, whether you meant them to happen quite like that or not. And the feet are so handy. I didn't notice holes in the container bottom?
Hi stellapathic
I didn't include any recipes but any low slump concrete or tufa recipe will work. If you want to have thinner walls use a strong mix with one part Portlands to 3-4 parts everything else.
I find for this size a 1 inch to 1 1/4 inch thick wall is plenty strong. If you want a thinner look you can thin the wall the last inch or two from the top.
The great thing from my point of view is this mold can be used over and over again producing 2-3 pots a week so you can experiment and find what works best for you.
If you clean and oil the inside everytime you use it, you can make a couple dozen pots at least, in all different shapes and sizes from the one mold.
Let me know if you need any pointers...:)
Hi stellapathic
There is a hole 1/2 inch drilled in the bottom...:)
I picked those colors because they can all be found at any big building center.
I also use blues and greens but they can be hard to find and blue costs much more than the rest.
Tans and browns are also very nice and can be found at Home Depot.
I'll post a few pictures of other pots as soon as I find the time.
How about a couple of good sites on low slump concrete and tufa? That's where I seem to need to start. I've seen posts about tufa but never saw anything that made me go "wow, I wanna make that!" Until yours.
hi stellapathic.
Dave's has a great hypertufa group as well. There is lots of info in the group.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/hypertufa/all/
Low slump simply means your concrete or tufa stands up and doesn't slide down from two much water.
In my mold you can build up the walls very slowly a few inches at a time waiting a few hours for the first batch to set before building on top so slump is much less of an issue.
.
If you use 1 part portland cement and three parts of sand, or peatmoss, or vermiculite you add only enogh water so you can form a tennis ball sized mass in you hand that holds together but does not drip water.
This allows you to build your walls on the inside of the mold and they won't 'slump' down.
I like a recipe of:
One part Portland cement
Two parts sand
One part fine Vermiculite or very fine Perlite.
You can reverse these and use one part sand and two parts vermiculite or perlite. You can also substitute a peat moss for apart. The less sand the lighter the pot will weigh..Lighter is good...:)
Fine vermiculite and Perlite can be hard to find but if you have a screen with about 1/8 inch holes you can make fine stuff in a blender. Blend it and screen it. :)
Most feed stores can sell you fine vermiculite, cheap, but it does come in BIG bags.
The best thing to do is practice by making a few small batches and try a shallow pot like a bonzai pot first. The great thing is you won't hurt the mold and the materials you use will cost pennies..:)
Here is the first pot I ever made and it hooked me on this hobby...:)
How beautiful is that? I was talking to my friend about this and saying it only cost a few dollars. And then we started laughing because I always say "sure, $3.00 in ingredients and 30 hours in time," which sorta defeats the purpose for me. I hate spending so much money on pots but I also have limited bits of time to spend on hobbies (except gardening itself, that's where my free time goes). If you have the ingredients and tools all ready how much time all told would you say these take?
LOL!
No thirty hours for the oval slip mold pot. I refuse to work for a pitance. If it isn't worth my time I don't do it.
3 hours max for a beginner including cleanup taking almost as much time as the molding.
Mixing and stuffing the crete in the mold only takes a few minutes then you leave it alone for a few hours slid up the mold then mix another batch.
Cutting the mold could take an hour or two if you don't have a bandsaw. It took me 20 minutes to draw the oval and cut the mold on my bandsaw.
If you unmold the day after you finish you can wire brush it to finish in a few minutes. No painting or glazing it's done. Then you keep it damp for a week to ten days to cure then you can use it.
Because it takes so little time to stuff the crete in the mold I do 3-4 different pots at a time.
The actual labor from mixing the first batch of crete to the final wire brushing is about 1.5 hours per pot. Big or small they all take about the same. The big ones might take 2 hours each.
A month later I seal them (You don't have to do this) and this takes about 15-20 minutes a pot
The round pot on the butterfly stand is a little more complicated and could take 5-6 hours to make the pot and stand from scratch. I can duplicate it in about 2 hours without the copper handles. It's made on the outside of a large stainless steel mixing bowl.
.
Would you mind posting EXACT step-by-step instructions (with pics) at some point and creating a link to the instructions. Like TomTom did for her papercrete instructions. This is a really wonderful craft. Thanks for sharing!
Linda
Hi Gymgirl
If I have time I will try to post more info, but step by step would be difficult.
If you follow the link in the first post all the information you need to give this a try is there.
If you have a question or two let me know. Then I would has an idea what is unclear and I can try to help.
I have made about 40 pots but each one is different because I use different shapes sizes and concrete recipes for every one.
Basically you make the mold and stuff in concrete and tufa. You could easily do a single color one tufa recipe or you can change colors with each layer like I did in this pot.
The real adventure is to use your imagination and give it a try.
Can you use "quickrete" for this? The quick set concrete?
Hi Gymgirl
Any concrete that is low slump will work great because there is no 'inside' to my mold.
But if you prefer a more conventional WET recipe there is no reason the pieces of styrofoam you cut out of the inside of the mold can be fashioned to be used as support for the inside wall as well.
More info in there thread I started in the Hypertufa group.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/664745/
I bumped TomTom's "How to Make Papercrete Containers" up to the top of the Container Gardening thread. Here's the link to here instructions. She might have a handle or some insight on the concrete coloring dilemma.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/472203/
What type of dye do you use? Do you dry a sample first to see what it looks like? Or do you just guess?
I only use oxide dry pigment designed for use in concrete.
I have a Blue, Yellow, 2 Greens, 2 Reds, Black, White, and a whole bunch of Browns.
Mixing colors is always a surprise. Yellow and Red will not make Orange but mud brown instead.
But Blue and Green does do a nice attractive Blue/Green.
Also changing your admixes, or aggregates can radically change the color.
Also different sealers give different results, most darken and brighten the colors but not all.
Paste waxes can also be used to bring up the color.
If you want to cheat you can also apply a slurry of just Portland, white glue or admix, and pigment with a brush to save money. I generally use blue in layers of a 1/4 inch or less because blue pigment is very expensive.
Every new batch is an adventure. :)
I dry dozens of samples but also just wing it.
I mix my dry batches in 3 gallon buckets, then mix a sample in a small 2 inch square thin tile which I hot glue to the lid. But as time goes by I tend to add more color, more sand, more glass, etc, until what's left in the bucket is usually a surprise. For this particular pot I was only sure what the red and yellow would look like, the rest were a surprise.
If you are only making one or two pieces I recommend you mix a sample and let it dry for about 4-6 days so you won't be disapointed by your colors.
TIP: 3 or 5 gallon buckets with tight lids can be found free at many food businesses. Grocery stores that sell bulk foods generally have tons of them.
The three gallon size is nice because you can add all your dusty dry ingredients, put on the lid, and shake the bucket to mix them avoiding all the dangerous dust.
Here is my favorite blue.
Made with white Portland, white sand and black coal slag 50/50
Here is my favorite pink.
It was also my first pink.
I have never been able to duplicate it.
All my pinks since have been less dark, less bright. I can't recall the exact recipe I used.
Color in concrete is an adventure, that's why I love playing with it.
That pink is gorgeous! Keep trying to replicate it!
OK the black brick above. I wrote about it in that post but the text went missing. :)
I wanted to point out that cheap pigments will often not make really dark colored concrete.
Most blacks sold by places like Home Depot will only make a dark grey concrete. The black I use will make pitch black concrete. The white specks are actually light shining off the coal slag in that recipe. Outside that brick looks like metallic black paint. It's pretty cool.
Coal slag is like sand made from black glass. It's used for sand blasting and it's cheap. It's great way to make your
colors look dark and sparkle as well. I love the stuff.
The downside for me is the company that supplied that black pigment has gone out of business..:(
Hi Gymgirl
The reason I'm posting is I'm hoping to get others excited about concrete colored with pigments.
If lots of people were experimenting I figure we would see a ton of great colors in no time at all.
I collect riverbed sand and small stones and boy if there was a way to separate the colors I could make some fantastic looking stuff.
You got me excited!
Hi 4paws
Was it my stunning good looks, likable personality, or the slip mold pot. :)
Another tip for making really dark colors. Adding too much pigment can result in very weak concrete.
So if you want a darker color use that recipe in a thin coat on the outside, or in the case of a mold like mine on the inside of the mold, maybe 1/4 inch thick then back it with a strong concrete recipe.
You can also make concrete slabs like cookie dough, cut or break them into shapes. Cookie cutters work great.
Then use these pieces like mosaic in your work. You buy cheap grey stepping stones and cover them this way.
I use 1/2 thick PINK styrofoam sheets for making my decorative pieces. It keeps my pieces a uniform thickness.
IDEA: It's on my list to do this fall.
The out door checker board game.
Make 32 , 2 inch squares(or bigger) half in a light color half in dark. Now make a 18 square slab of concrete an inch thick and smush your cured squares on top of this soft crete making a checker board. You can use those little bathroom tile guides to leave a space between the squares that you can grout later.
Make a bunch of 1 1/4 round crete checkers in two colors.
Now you have a great game you can leave out in the rain, it won't blow away in the wind , it will look great, and it's gonna cost you about $2 bucks. :)
Backgammon too, a bit more work but you could make an entire tabletop this way.
lol
A combination of all.
Good idea! I'm looking forward to photos someday. :-)
How much would the game weigh? Set it into a table, with a built in holder (basket, so that debris and rain can wash through) for the pieces, might be another approach.
Ah Hoya.... when you get your checkerboard finished do post a pic..... I have made a few that are similar, but not made exactly the same as you described.They do hold up well, they are heavy LOL!
Would love to see how you like doing them and how pretty they will look with your color knowledge.
Michelle:)
Now you have me all excited about doing the checkerboard. I've been doing pots and I'm unhappy with most of them.
I'm supposed to be making a few things for a craft show in dec and maybe the checker game might be ok.
A game that can be left out in the weather may appeal to people.
I'll try to take a stab at it over the weekend. It should be a very easy project.
If I make the squares tomorrow I can cast the board on Sunday.
Michelle I generally avoid talking recipes because I use materials that can be hard to find.
In particular cryogenic perlite, it's perlite that has that appearance of sugar and virtually weightless.
It's used in industry for insulating tanks.
I use it in place of up to 80% of the sand making my stuff much lighter than regular concrete. It's actally cheaper than sand because it comes in huge 4 cubic foot bags for about $18.
Yes I am familiar with it..., but can't find it here so far. It is very hard to find.
Been looking for a while to find a source other than Canada!
Haven't looked in the last year or so, just got back into the "mud hole" in the last few weeks after a long time.
Sand is cheaper here...much cheaper than $18.00 for 4 cu feet. I'm not talkin play or beach sand either....lol!
But sand is heavy stuff....I get the finest Perlite I can find , but I would rather have the right material.
I suppose it would be worth it to have it shipped from Canada since its not that heavy.
I'll have to dig up my old computer notes and relocate it.
Have fun with your checkerboard! Pics please....I'll show you mine if you show me yours...LOL!
I'll be watching.
:-)
I've move the discussion of game boards to the Hypertufa and concrete group before we get the boot for being off topic...:)
Here is the link.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/665516/
It's your thread, but good idea... :-)
I've been following this thread with interest and followed the first link for the instructions, but there is one thing I don't understand. You have been referring to molds, but nowhere do you explain HOW to make the mold. Is the mold made up of 2 pieces, one inner and one outer? Or is the mold one piece? And if the mold is one piece, does the concrete go on the outside of the mold or on the inside of the mold? Right now I can't visualize how the mold and he concrete work together. Would it be possible to post photos of the molds and perhaps containers in the early stages when the molds are used? I am confused and am dying to see if this is something that I can actually do. Many thanks for the efforts in posting this information.
Thanks,
Renee
Okay, I"m confused. How do you make the molds for the pots out of the blue stuff? Is it foam-like stuff?
Ohhh I got it!! It helps to look at the pictures so nicely posted with the original message! Duh!! I'm gonna try a planter this weekend. Woohooo!! Thank you for the info!
I was able to complete two pots this weekend! I used a different technique, but they came out really neat. I'll take some pics tomorrow evening after work when I have some daylight. The first one came out a little too thick and the second one I made the batch a little too liquidy (is that a word?). The learning process....sheesh. I think the 2nd one should come out fine, though. It just won't be quite the way I wanted, but will work. What a super fun project! You can't even tell I took any cement out of the bag or peat moss. The sand bag is still super full too! Fun AND cheap! Woohooo!
Ah-Hoya -- have you tried to attach small cement decorative items to your pots? Probably dumb question, but do you think if I made a pot and used cement after a few days to attach some decorative cement items I made, they would stay and last? Does that make sense?
Thanks!
Megin