Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Recipes and casting material
This is going to be a shorty.
Recipes:
There is an absolute stock pile of recipes out there it's enough to make any novice's head spin. The problem isn't that the high numbers of recipes are bad or anything, but it's confusing to discern which is right for you. Let's get some basics out of the way:
- In general we want about 3-5 parts of aggregate to 1 part of cement. I personally prefer 4 parts aggregate to 1 part cement... it just works for me. The trick is to remember what the cement's purpose is: glue. Cement is the glue that binds the aggregates together. Cement is NOT the body of the rock. Try not to think that you need a lot of cement to create rock.
- Your rock will take on the characteristics of your aggregates. For instance if you use just aragonite sand, the rock will act like a giant grain of sand... it will be solid with little porosity. Use just perlite? Your rock will be lighter than anything out there but will be brittle. How about dolomite gravel? Your rock will be more solid but heavier than all get out. Always keep in mind that your rock will be the very things you use to create it. Portioning the ingredients to balance out the characteristics of your rock is critical to get what you personally want.
Recipes: Here are some recipes I've used and have seen used with success:
1 Cement : 1.5 Dolomite : 1.5 Aragonite
1 Cement : 2 Dolomite : 2 Aragonite
1 Cement : 1.5 Perlite : 1.5 Aragonite
1 Cement : 2 Perlite : 2 Aragonite
1 Cement : 2 Perlite : 1.5 Aragonite
1 Cement: 1 Perlite : 1 Dolomite : 1 Aragonite
And on, and on... you get the idea. All of the above works fine… only subtle changes are noted amongst the different recipes. Your imagination is the only limit. I highly recommend you experiment with recipes and ingredients to achieve your personal favorite. Lord knows I sure have!
This picture is of my earlier work before using perlite. The ingredients at this time are dolomite, aragonite, and white cement. I essentially created a porous and solid rock, but also very heavy.
Casting Material:
- Sand: Works fine but you'll need to prepare the mold before you cast it. Dampen the sand with some water and shape out a rough draft in the sand of what you want your piece of rock to look like. You'll need a box to hold the sand in.
- Rock: If you have scrap rock lying around put it to work! This is my favorite method for making rock. I get random shapes and sizes that rock is supposed to look like. A con to this method is that you'll have to chip out the mold rock from the casted piece. The other con is that you’ll also have to invest a lot more money, time, and storage for this method. You don't need a box for this method.
- Foam and plastic: I've tried all sorts of other things. This method involves foaming, at random, a flat board then putting plastic over it. Casting is simple... just pour the mix on it. No pre-dampening of anything is needed... a slight bonus. Another bonus is that the casted piece is easily removed.
Chapter 2
Recipes and casting material
This is going to be a shorty.
Recipes:
There is an absolute stock pile of recipes out there it's enough to make any novice's head spin. The problem isn't that the high numbers of recipes are bad or anything, but it's confusing to discern which is right for you. Let's get some basics out of the way:
- In general we want about 3-5 parts of aggregate to 1 part of cement. I personally prefer 4 parts aggregate to 1 part cement... it just works for me. The trick is to remember what the cement's purpose is: glue. Cement is the glue that binds the aggregates together. Cement is NOT the body of the rock. Try not to think that you need a lot of cement to create rock.
- Your rock will take on the characteristics of your aggregates. For instance if you use just aragonite sand, the rock will act like a giant grain of sand... it will be solid with little porosity. Use just perlite? Your rock will be lighter than anything out there but will be brittle. How about dolomite gravel? Your rock will be more solid but heavier than all get out. Always keep in mind that your rock will be the very things you use to create it. Portioning the ingredients to balance out the characteristics of your rock is critical to get what you personally want.
Recipes: Here are some recipes I've used and have seen used with success:
1 Cement : 1.5 Dolomite : 1.5 Aragonite
1 Cement : 2 Dolomite : 2 Aragonite
1 Cement : 1.5 Perlite : 1.5 Aragonite
1 Cement : 2 Perlite : 2 Aragonite
1 Cement : 2 Perlite : 1.5 Aragonite
1 Cement: 1 Perlite : 1 Dolomite : 1 Aragonite
And on, and on... you get the idea. All of the above works fine… only subtle changes are noted amongst the different recipes. Your imagination is the only limit. I highly recommend you experiment with recipes and ingredients to achieve your personal favorite. Lord knows I sure have!
This picture is of my earlier work before using perlite. The ingredients at this time are dolomite, aragonite, and white cement. I essentially created a porous and solid rock, but also very heavy.
Casting Material:
- Sand: Works fine but you'll need to prepare the mold before you cast it. Dampen the sand with some water and shape out a rough draft in the sand of what you want your piece of rock to look like. You'll need a box to hold the sand in.
- Rock: If you have scrap rock lying around put it to work! This is my favorite method for making rock. I get random shapes and sizes that rock is supposed to look like. A con to this method is that you'll have to chip out the mold rock from the casted piece. The other con is that you’ll also have to invest a lot more money, time, and storage for this method. You don't need a box for this method.
- Foam and plastic: I've tried all sorts of other things. This method involves foaming, at random, a flat board then putting plastic over it. Casting is simple... just pour the mix on it. No pre-dampening of anything is needed... a slight bonus. Another bonus is that the casted piece is easily removed.