Hypertufa Projects

 

A free and easy to make plastic mold for hypertufa and concrete.

These are easy and fast. Give it a try.

Hypertufa is an artificial stone made from various aggregates bonded together using Portland cement. It is popular for making garden ornaments, pots and land forms. Hypertufa is relatively light compared with Terra cotta or Concrete and can withstand harsh winters, at least down to -30C (-20F).

How to – Make Your Own Plastic Molds


By Del Germyn


This is a fast, easy way to make some free molds for concrete, hypertufa, plaster, etc.

First decide what you want to copy. It must be something that can be painted with Acetone without melting. An example would be a brick or rock.  Clean your rock and be sure it is dry. This is important; water and acetone will mix, but you don't want any water in the Acetone.  (thanks to Mary Hershey for bringing this to my attention.)

"for your information, water and acetone are infinately soluble with one another.
Granted, for your application, you may not want any water present, but please do us CHEMISTS a favor and change your information
to what is an actual fact.
Mary Hershey"
 
I wonder if I should correct her spelling?  Us non-CHEMISTS spell infinately like this "infinitely"

Now get some of that blue or pink rigid foam insulation. You should try to get the 2 inch thick stuff if you want your mold to last. To begin just get whatever you can. Sometimes you can pick up a couple of scraps at construction sites for free.

Put your insulation on the table, and next to it put your rock with the side you want to copy facing up. Paint the rock with Acetone and VERY quickly place it on the foam. When it has sunk in an inch or two pull it out.

Wait a while for the foam to harden up, and there is your mold!!

Paint on some mold release (also known as 10w engine oil). Try not to have any puddles; they will cause holes in the concrete.

 

I try to provide only top quality articles.  If there is a specific topic related to hypertufa that you couldn't find and would like me to cover, please  contact me.