I’ve been kicking around the idea of making some forms and useing my mortor mixer to experiment with making landscaping blocks , if any one has any thoughts ideas or experience sure would appericate it.
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Don't have a gym you can workout in huh?
I tried something like this once. I was making precast brick looking slabs an inch and a half thick by 54" square for setting on a floor under wood stoves for quickie installations. I used vermiculite for light weight.
Problems you can run into are shrinkage, warping, chipping from imperfect release, maybe more.
There are outfits (advertising back of mags like mother earth or popular mechanics?) that sell forms and introduce you to how-to methods for casting lawn ornaments and classic vases etc. They also advise on marketing, etc.
Why? when you can buy them.
Excellence is its own reward!
Piffin ..thanks ......this all started out talking about what we could do to help our local high school sports program in the form of a fund raiser to help support activities. Thought maybe something that wasn't hi tech but labor intensive so that the teams could participate in the labor end of mixing , pouring , knocking down forms , loading and unloading . These blocks seem to be very popular here in central Illinois and I often see people loading up trunks of cars at places like Menards and thought there might be a demand for manufacturing and transportation to residences . We have access to 4 mixers between us and as a small agriculture town plenty of trucks. These type blocks are used to stop erosion and do have some weight, seen them in colors and different textured finish's. Along this line I seen a local make parking stop blocks useing ogee commerical style roof gutters for forms and installed the in parking spaces , was somethig different and looked pretty good . If you have any thoughts about a fund raiser that involves labor for the teams that makes them feel like they are doing some serious work , instead of car wash's I think thier ego and enthusiasm would be unlimited. Teenagers gotta love em
Makes more sense that way and the football players can get into shape with the shovel. LOL
They could stamp their names into each one in hidden locations for a little additional ego gratification..
Excellence is its own reward!
If you are talking about the modular wall block, forget about it. First the shape will be too difficult to easly handle with ofset tabs and everything and there is also the liability.
But I have a different idea.
One of the course that my high school adult ed class is offering it creating your own stepping--stones;
"Come and learn to make a raised pattern stepping-stone for your garden. Choose a desgin (or bring your own) and make your owne resuable latex mold for this fund project. Make of contrete, this stepping-stone will be durable piece of garden art you can enjoy for years to come. Students will complete one mold and stone. The mold will last through multiple uses, so it can be taken home to create a new walk-way trhough your garden or create wonderfull gifts for your gardenign friedns. This class involves homework bewtee the first and second classes. all suplies furnished for a $32 material fee".
I don't know what it takes to made the molds, but it can't be that difficult.
I would not try to compete with the mass merchandisers. I would make up some molds with the school logo, the towns name, etc. For an extra fee you do do custom ones for each customer with their name in them for example.
Bill, you have got something there. DW and I make and sell stained glass ornamental stepping stones.
You can build your own form and pick up broken ceramic tile from a local distributor. Purchase a roll of self adhesive shelving paper (clear) and stick the tile face down in whatever mosaic pattern you choose (team logo, etc.). Coat the inside of the mold with petroleum jelly and place the mosaic in the bottom. Work about a 1/2 layer of mortor mix and finish filling the mold with a concrete mix that uses pea gravel as the large aggregate. Tap, lightly vibrate, and strike (screed) the excess concrete from the back of the form. Wait 24 to 48 hours and turn the form over, and tap lightly to release the stone. Peel the contact paper off of the mosaic and grout with mortor any voids between the tiles. Seal only the top of the stone with a concrete sealer. Almost fogot, add a piece of 3/8 inch hardware cloth in the middle of the pour.
One 80 lb. bag of concrete and a bg of motar mix will make a several stepping stones. I think we figure our cost per stone with stained glass is less than $30.00 each, and the glass is expensive, as well as labor intensive.
A project like that with the school mascot would be a sure fired success with the local boosters.
Dave