Concrete pots

Bonsai Nut

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Anyone make any larger scale pots with concrete? I'm not talking about poured concrete, but rather colored and pressed concrete (formed concrete). Curious about the cement used, as well as the aggregate and reinforcement, if any.
 
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I know that Craig Coussins did one (or had one made) a few years back. It was a very large poured slab, formed from a wooden box filled with sand.

Are you interested in making one?
 

king kong

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Anyone make any larger scale pots with concrete? I'm not talking about poured concrete, but rather colored and pressed concrete (formed concrete). Curious about the cement used, as well as the aggregate and reinforcement, if any.

I got concrete pots. I made concrete pots. Large colored concrete pots is my thing.
 

crhabq

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I made a small crescent following Dave Joyce's The Art of Natural Bonsai. The type of cement I used was water stop hydraulic concrete repair. I used turface as the aggragate but Joyce suggest perlite for larger projects to help reduce the weight. The procedure is to form a shape with what I know as "chicken wire" fencing reinforced with a heavier wire framework. To this you make a fiberglass/epoxy shell. I used 1 1/2 Oz chopped strand fiberglass mat tape and polyester fiberglass resin. They make a continuous strand fiberglass mat tape also and this may be less messy to work with. The concrete mix is pasted on to the fiberglass/ wire shell. In this method the concrete is again covered with the fiberglass resin and grit. It is then painted with acrylic paints to look like a rock. The painting to look rock-like is easily the most difficult part of the project.
I believe that the "hydraulic" part of the concrete used is the important part as this means that the concrete will not shrink as it dries.
 

chappy56

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I'm working on my first one now. I've made Hypurtufa with cement, sphagnum peat and sand but wasn't overly excited about the results. This time I'm using a mixture of a colored, tri-fortified cement/grout used for ceramic tile, an Amaco product called Sculptamold (a paper based product)that's used for scupltures, and the secret ingrediant, 3/4" shredded poly fibers that help hold it all together. It's in the mold now and I should know in a few days how it pans out. Normally White Portland Cement should be used but I hate buuying 96 lbs. when I only need ten or fifteen. I'll keep you posted.
 

king kong

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Lets get this show on the road. Does this count? There is concrete in it.
 

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king kong

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Now here is another concrete pot with a tree in it.
 

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king kong

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Here is another pot with vertical drain holes to drain perched water.
 

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king kong

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I wanted A baby's butt smooth fin. plus I use a more fluid mix. I do not believe in sealants.
 

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Mojosan

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What I have found is that you need a very smooth finish on the inside. After a year or so in the pots with rough interior, the roots will firmly grab the rough surface, and it makes it difficult to remove the tree from the pot without damaging all the fine roots.
 

chappy56

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Well here's my first concrete pot. Hot out of the mold.
The first photo is before the sealant was applied. I left the finish somewhat rough as the tree intended for this pot has a fair amount of deadwood in it and I was hoping to play off that color. It was recommended by the guys in our local club here to leave the pot kinda priomitive. All in all it went okay. Next time I'll spend more time on my mold though. The more finished the mold, the better finish on the pot I think. I cast this one on Monday and removed it on Friday.
 

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Bonsai Nut

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Well here's my first concrete pot. Hot out of the mold.

Thanks for sharing! What product did you use for the mix? Was it standard "off the shelf" cement? What did you use for aggregate - it looks like standard play sand. Also, I'm assuming you used colorant?
 

chappy56

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The mold was wood. I started out cutting the ellipse out of fur pieces of wood. Then I used an old piece of plywood for the bottom and cut out holes for the four feet. I screwed this down to another old piece of plywood and attached the ellipse. I sprayed all interior surfaces with teflon and filled the mold about 5/8 of an inch thick of the mixture described earlier. I think the hardest part was remembering how to make an ellipse.
 

chappy56

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I'm working on my first one now. I've made Hypurtufa with cement, sphagnum peat and sand but wasn't overly excited about the results. This time I'm using a mixture of a colored, tri-fortified cement/grout used for ceramic tile, an Amaco product called Sculptamold (a paper based product)that's used for scupltures, and the secret ingrediant, 3/4" shredded poly fibers that help hold it all together. It's in the mold now and I should know in a few days how it pans out. Normally White Portland Cement should be used but I hate buuying 96 lbs. when I only need ten or fifteen. I'll keep you posted.

Hey Nut-
Above is the mixture from earlier in the thread. More specifically, the "cement" is a Tri-Fortified grout used for tile work. It's essentialy portland cement with additives to keep it from cracking. It comes in a multitude of colors. There is no aggregate in it. The Amaco product can be found at art supply stores and is used in sculpturing. It's light, fiberous, and dries hard. The third ingrediant is just 3/4", shredded monofiliment nylon that you can buy at most concrete supply stores. My hope is the nylon holds it all together. I think with the sealant it might work. I figure I've got around 30 bucks in it.
 
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