Also, I bought molds for garden stakes, shaped kind of like ping-pong paddles. They are so thin, maybe 5/8" thick. The first batch broke right out of the mold. Then I mixed 1:1 with portland and sand. they seem to be ok, but the first thing my boyfriend did was put pressure on the stake part to "test" it - and of course, it snapped right off. I was so mad! Are these molds useless? I'm thinking if the first thing someone wants to do is try to snap the stake part off, I will have a lot of broken junk - which I don't need any more of!

Any ideas are appreciated~~

Gina

If you're filling the molds to the top, 5/8" shouldn't be too bad, if you're doing concrete, not tufa. What ratio are you using? I would use 1:3 or so. And this would probably be the place to use some acrylic or polymer latex additive if you have it. Also, letting them cure more before "testing" them might help, too.

Just some thoughts.

'Pup

On the other hand, if you can insert a piece of rebar in the center of mold, so that the concrete sets up round it - i.e. your stake is really a piece of rebar coated with concrete - I'd expect it to work.

The ping pong paddle shape sounds interesting. Can you post a picture of the mold?

You could use it for your detailed stepping stone molds as well, just tap, shake, or vibrate to get the bubbles away from the mold surface.

For you paddles I would try
1 Portlands
3 SHARP masonary sand. All sand is not created equal. Playsand is not that good.
If you want to use White portlands then use sharp white silica sand. About $6 for a fifty pound bag.

Acrylic Admix in the water about 20% will help a lot.

Or buy a topping premix. They have all the additives in tha bag and will make you very hard and durable paddles.
The premixes are more money but will go a long way for making small items.
These high strength premixes are generally very fussy about the water so follow instructions carefully.

Topping pre mix would also be terrific for the top of your stepping stones. Because they contain super plastizers they will pick up the pattern extremely well.
Expect them to be almost runny when ready to use.

Loren, will that grout hold up to people? LOL. I'm afraid if I go to sell them, the first thing people will do is torque on them :( I can snap a picture over the next couple days.

I know I will never do sand mix that thick unless I'm making hypertufa, I was advised that I was making it too THIN a few weeks ago, so I went the opposite. I thought by patting I could fill in the detail, but man, did I screw up.

Tufa- thanks for the recipes. I used to do them all with regular concrete premix and never had any trouble until I got some really detailed molds. Then I used premix sand mix that I did a leaf with last year to made the stones and I didn't have it wet enough.

I hadn't tried the sand mix in the paddles, but I did use a 1:1 portland and play-sand. Any tips on where to get sand for less money than a bag of pre-mix? I'm not so sure I'm saving money when they charge $2.50 for a little bag of sand. I haven't bought any aggregate yet, still using regular kwikrete for my less detailed stones. I know I have a lot to learn :) At least my first 'tufa pot unmolded without breaking, that made my whole weekend!

Herb, I don't think that any piece of re-bar would even get covered in them! I feel bad I bought them now, I don't know how I could "make" them be thicker. Still think it's a cool idea to be able to paint whatever I want on them. But I don't know how on earth to make them strong unless I started using resin.
the molds are on ebay right now at the link below--

You could try lengths of metal clothes hanger in the handle.
Most clothes hangers have a coating that prevent rust from wet clothes so they should work very well as skinny rebar.

Long headless finishing nails will also work if you overlap them side by side about 50% all the way up the spike. They would act like a single piece of rebar.

With the mold being only 5/8" deep, I'd be afraid of getting some sort of ghosting from any wire or nails.

You might try another Quikrete product called "Quikwall." It's got fibers and admix but no gravel and sets up quick and strong. I used it for my greenman plaque. It did have the bubbles problem because it set up so quickly that I didn't have time to vibrate them out.

A lot of people use Quikwall for casting leaves.

Deb

I use Portlands and my own admixes exclusively for everything I make because it's cheaper than any premix and I have complete control.

But I have used premix topping mixes for stair and walk repair and it is terrific stuff. But it was very fussy about the amount of water. Impossible to eyeball it because of all the admixes, you had to follow directions exactly to get a proper mix.

Are you guys saying that I could use one mix to make fill the bottom of a detailed stone mold, and then another mix to fill up the rest? Would I pour them wet-on-wet?

Bend Industries is nearby, I could ask them about the sand. Can you also get it from cement places? I seem to recall my dad filling our sandbox with garbage cans full of sand from there - or is that not the right kind?

I'm debating to sell the paddle molds or not, I'm so afraid people are just going to try to snap them, but I'll take you guys's advice if you think I can pull it off. I think I'm going to start on a few trellises today. I'm getting a "presentation area" ready to hopefully sell the painted stones laying across my basement floor =)

You guys are awesome, except you send my head reeling!! =)

Just remember that most premix concretes should be 2" thick minimum because of the agregate size. If you want to make them a little thinner use regular Portlands, sand and BIRDSEYE GRAVEL.

Birdseye is finer gravel about 1/4 inch in size used for road repair and you can get it cheap at the same place you get the sand. Birdseye is perfect for stones thinner than two inches.
A bag of Portlands, a hundred pounds of birdseye gravel and a hundred pounds of sharp sand is going to make your stones cheaper and stronger than any premix.

The reason I suggested a topping mix is they are designed to be runny without a lot of water. They use admixes to accomplish this so the product is very hard and strong.

Any topping mix designed to repair concrete walkways or steps is going to hold up very well in a stepping stone and should pick up the pattern detail perfectly.

Most places that sell ready mix concrete will sell you all the sand you can shovel for a very modest cost.
Ask any brick layer when he goes to get his good sharp sand.

Any concrete topping mix should also make very strong paddles.
However the grout that was reccommended might be cheaper.

'Pup

Ok, before I try again, I'd like an opinion!!
Who do you think would be stronger:
--concrete resurfacing product
or
--mortar mix?