Jeff Lawrence on thu 8 jan 98
Greg Skipper was asking:
> What can you add to plaster for variety?
Hi Greg,
A friend of mine embedded his trumpet in plaster for a wall hanging. I
thought it gave that plaster a lot of variety. On a less musical note, I've
used 3% Red Iron Oxide to get a rusty pink that looks a little like
unpolished marble if you squint at it (I used USG Hydrocal). For other
colors there is an extensive palette of concrete stains around--try a good
hardware store.
Too much stain supposedly impairs set strength; I think the concrete stains
recommend 7% max. Somebody else I heard of didn't like painting his stairs,
so he poured a set of excessively green concrete stairs (lasted about a
week). On the other hand, maybe you don't need to worry about strength
unless your figurine customers make a habit of stepping on them.
BTW, I just found out that USG has a roving band of technical people giving
presentations nationwide on the latest wrinkles in plaster. If you're
curious, call your local USG supplier for the schedule. One cool product is
Gardencast, a waterproof (!!) plaster for outside sculptures. Another is
some metal casting plaster which will probably turn into a 100 pound solid
doorstop before I ever get around to using it.
Jeff
Non-disclaimer: I own USG and will personally fritter away every hard-earned
dollar you spend on USG products. TIA.
Jeff Lawrence
jml@sundagger.com
Sun Dagger Design
Rt 3 Box 220
Espanola, NM 87532
ph 505-753-5913
fax 505-753-8074
Darrol Shillingburg on fri 9 jan 98
geeze Jeff,
What a chuckle or was that guffaa!
We in the museum exhibit business used to buy powedered pigments from a
friendly paint manufacturer to color and tint plaster. A wider range of
colors than available for cement and a finer grind, works better.
Wishing I owned some of USG or some other company to fritter away, or even
trumpet!
Darrol in Elephant Butte, NM
DarrolS@Zianet.com
on the web at http://www.zianet.com/DarrolS
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