Exciting Developments in Cement and Urethane and Cell Phones

Exciting, not so much. Interesting, maybe. The facts are that the final stages of development of a product are not as exciting as the early stages of product development. I've been testing mixtures of cement, grout and mortar to find a nice balance for making thin panels that can be used as parts with filler to build reversible frames that can be used to build a wall. I know it sounds complex, but it's the best idea I've come up with that makes some sense to me. Ideally I want durability and cement seems to be the most resistant material that is cost effective and not sensitive to exposure to UV or rain. I've been coating the cement with thin layers of polyester resin mixed with atomized steel particles to create a rusted finish as it wears. The only variation I've got in the mix currently is mixing some atomized steel particles into a new water-based urethane that I was given a sample of. Result of these test will follow in the coming days, but my preliminary findings show that the urethane finish does not rust as quickly as the poly-resin with the steel. I have also been making some medallions out of bronze and steel mixed the same way and can't wait to see how they react to rapid aging caused by an acid wash. I have been working on promoting a cell phone service form a mobile phone provider called Ting. Today I got approval to provide customers that I refer to their network with a free t-shirt from my website YQue.com to encourage potential customers to complete a transaction. Since I don't have a use for the medallions, which are the inside face of the Sun God from the Mayan Calendar, I am thinking of making this item a free product too for people that sign up. The deal goes like this, If a potential customer clicks on my link shown here: https://ting.com/r/vtimr91 - Which includes a $50 off coupon for the purchase of a phone. If the potential customer completes a transaction for the Ting Mobile Phone that runs on the Sprint Network, then they can return to my webpage and get a t-shirt or medallion for free. The medallion would actually be an easier item to ship than the t-shirts. Here is a link to my webpage that describes the Ting Cell Phone service and the Free T-shirt deal.

Mayan Calendar Symbol Photo Relief

I gave away a cool cold casted item today, a mayan symbol from the famous Calendar to a kid. I hope he keeps it for a long time. I'll post a picture soon.

Resin coating cement panels - Cracks or Softness

The challenge I have been debating between epoxy and polyester resin goes on. I have been casting brick panels in cement with a variety of mortars, cements and grouts to get a surface that resembles brick and can fill the backside of some frames. I like the idea that the cement will resist the deteriorating effects of water more than the plaster gypsum products I have been using, but the cement has been slower to work with and is easy to damage while it is drying. I have gotten a set of 10 or so panels and felt they needed to be coated to resist weathering and to create a more finished looking piece. My product of choice has been epoxy, but the expense and time it takes for epoxy to set isn't desirable. Also the epoxy I have been using tends to get soft with heat and as a result it seems less desirable for outside conditions where I can't necessarily control the temperature. The bond of epoxy seems strong to wood anyway, but if it becomes soft then there is room for problems like keeping the shape that it may form into to if a piece is suspended in a random way. Then if there is rain or dirt it would puddle or build up in those sunken or raised areas, so the epoxy I am using is not the right choice for this application. Also I had some left over polyester bonding resin available to use. My biggest concern now is the adhesion to the cement. I wrote an review and commented on some of my issues here on Live Action News - The Salt of the Earth and at least feel some satisfaction in that the larger scale engineering technology of the concrete industry is dealing with some of the same problems, but on a much larger scale. Without reinforcing the panels I have gone on to apply a thin painted layer of polyester resin with some fillers and atomized steel particles to resist weathering and create a rusted finish. The polyester resin also feels thinner than the epoxy, so I am hopeful that it will seep in better than the epoxy would. Still over time there may be problems with cracking if the cement continues to shrink, after the polyester resin has set. The coating may absorb heat if I use the panels in the sun, because it is black, but the interior of cement should resist allowing the heat to pass through to the interior of the structure. This should be better than a solid epoxy or polyester object that could allow the heat to pass through. I suppose that I could just use a cement paint to cover the cement, or a specially designed epoxy paint like those used to do floors in car mechanic shops, but the resulting high gloss finish isn't my thing. I think the other problem here is that I like some visual weathering effects like rust, but don't like structural deteriorating effects like cracking and crumbling. Time will tell. Now I want to send these pieces through a gauntlet of test for weathering, like suspending one in salt water, coating one with acid, leaving another out in the sun, burying one in the dirt with worms and grubs, freezing one and burning one, just to see what happens. Burning may not be a good idea, but the other test for durability will work.

Cement versus Plaster - Weathering vs. Speed

I have been playing with a wide range of readily available cements, mortars and grouts the past few weeks trying to imitate the detail and strength that I have been getting with gypsum based plaster products in my castings. Cement is extremely difficult compared to the plaster products due to the amount of time that is required for the cement products to set up. Secondly all of the cement products seem to shrink as they set, which means they fall out of their frames. I have tried to make this an advantage by casting a bunch of brick panels in order to adhere them to the back of some epoxy or plaster front panels so that I can have a two-sided finished looking piece that can be used in a wall. The idea is good, but waiting for the cement pieces to finish setting and dry enough to paint or seal has been troublesome. I guess that if I get 1 for every 2 pieces I make due to handling and breakage. The cement does not seem to be inherently as strong as the plaster and can't take the abuse that I am used to administering to the plaster pieces. I am hopeful that as I wait longer, now a minimum of one week or more, that the cement panels will gain strength and then I can consider coatings to seal and finish the panels before inserting them like tiles into some frames.

Cost of building materials to make boat - or just buy one

Every time I turn around I need a new material to make something with and although I enjoy working with casting materials like epoxy, plasters and cements the cost keep adding up. I've brought down much of my cost of goods to a reasonable level, but if I want to take on a new project, like building the composite construction Feather canoe I am going to have to purchase some high grade epoxy. It's really expensive stuff, especially the West Systems epoxy. As an alternative I have started looking at used boats for sale on Craigslist and it is much cheaper to just buy a boat that is already made. The more I look the more I start getting attached to different types of boats and designs, losing site of the concept that all I wanted to do was build a canoe. Did I really just want to build a canoe? Not likely, I wanted to get out on the water. If I start a canoe building project then I am going to be sitting around all summer making some funky thing that most likely won't look like the pictures. I like the idea, but if it is going to be about getting on the water, then I have to just buy a boat or work on the Cal 20 I already have in the water. I have found that I am attracted to early 1960's fiberglass hulls like the Cal 20 because they don't seem to leak and many of them sell for cheap prices. The thickness of the polyester that was used seems to be the key as the boat builders back then didn't know how thick to build them to last, so they built them thick. The point of this is that with the money I save by not buying Epoxy I can go out and buy a really thick fiberglass hull sailboat and get on the water instead of making a crappy boat in my backyard.

Stabalized Table

I have made a stable table for working on but it looks uneven to me. I have to trust the level and the first few pieces will tell if it is true. I started using wax on the edges of the wood frames that I use as molds and it works well as a release agent. I am amazed at how the concrete shrinks while it sets and as a result releases perfectly along the edges so that I can simply raise the wooden frame up around the newly made piece. This explains a lot in terms of how molded concrete pieces can crack while they set.

The rapid pace of production - figure out how to use it later

I have some techniques that I'm happy with, making the brick panels and assembling them later, but there are still new issues that have been realized that weren't problems before. Dry time for one. Since I have stopped putting the pigment and images into the mold and mixed concrete I now have to wait for the item to dry completely before applying any additional layers. I have also noticed that some materials don't seem to hit their maximum strength right away, so any handling is just going to cause breakage. Lastly the shrinkage issue. I have been using the shrinkage to my benefit, because the component parts are easier to remove from the wooden mold, but if I mount any of the pieces too early then the shrinkage is just going to add more internal stress or cause cracks. I've found a place in my yard to place a bunch of flat brick panels to dry and after a couple of weeks I'll check them out and see if they've matured to durable concrete brick panels that can be painted with acrylic, spray paint, resin and or epoxy. Another problem is that my tables haven't been perfectly stable or level, so many of these first brick panels are higher on one end than the other. I like that if I was going to use them as shingles that overlapped, but it isn't a feature that I want to have on a regular basis. So now I have to go back and redesign my work table to make consistently flat and even brick fresco panels. 2 steps forward, one step back.