Color Cement Handicraft 15

Color Cement Handicraft 15

TILES, STAINED GLASS AND MOSAICS may be included in the decoration of

flower boxes. They should be glued firmly into position on the molds or

boards forming the mold for the box. After a day or two drying the molds

are assembled and the cement is poured in the usual way. The moisture

in the cement will be found to soften the glue so that on removal of the

molds the tiles, glass or mosaics will remain with the cement.

 

TO INCLUDE HANGING CHAINS, RINGS OR HOOKS in a cement box, the mold

should be arranged so as to accommodate the chain or metal through it.

The part or opening through which the metal passes is filled with clay

or wax to avoid the running out of the cement. The molds can be held up

from the table surface by a few blocks of wood or worked upon after

being placed on a trestle.

 

COVERS TO BOXES can be made in the same manner as boxes. A single flat

lid may have fewer molded parts but should have enough to permit easy

release of the cement.

 

[Illustration: Three Cement Box Methods]

 

[Illustration: The Making of a Cement Box]

 

 

 

 

[Illustration]

 

CHAPTER 13

 

Color Cement for the

Garden

 

[Illustration]

 

 

ARTISTIC GARDEN WORK can be enhanced by the use of color cement. While

ordinary cement and concrete construction has been much used, there are

still greater possibilities with the use of color cement. The use of

color in the open permits the use of bright colors, in key with the

flowers and foliage; and with color cement the formal or Italian garden

scheme or the informal or Japanese manner of garden arrangement is

delightfully possible. Pottery, garden furniture, fountains, walls,

chimneys, pools and walks are a few of the possibilities with color

cement.

 

LARGE GARDEN POTTERY is produced by the same principles as vases and

bowls, but as the proportions are much larger, the methods of working

are different.

 

Where a large jardinière is to be made, the form should first be built

up from clay and be formed upside down. Bricks or any other solid

material may be used for the main body of this form, and the clay built

over it as it will not then require so much clay. If a long nail or rod

or strong stick is placed in the center of this mass, it can serve the

purpose as an axis to a templet which will form the contour of the

jardinière when moved around in a circular direction. The metal must be

good and heavy and sometimes it is necessary to reinforce the templet

with wood.

 

After the clay form is built, cases are made in several sections from

the plaster the same as for small forms; and cement and concrete used in

large quantities after the same method as for small forms.

 

Large dish-pans, pails, etc., may be used for securing the inside form

for garden pottery. Oil the outside and bottom of the pail or pan used

and place it upside down on a table. If only a certain part of the

bottom is wanted, clay should be built up around it, so that only the

part wanted is exposed. With a strip of tin or linoleum for a moulding

case surround the inverted utensil and then pour the concrete around and

over it.

 

TO FORM THE GARDEN POTTERY more accurately on the outside, take it out

from the mold in two or three days and trim with a knife to the desired

form (in winter let the form stay in the mold four or five days). If

extensions or additions are wanted the vase, bowl or jardinière, should

be soaked in water for an hour or two and the form made from tin or

other material placed in position and the cement poured into the forms.

 

To secure smaller parts independent from the larger parts such as fishes

or cup forms for fountains, etc., the smaller part should be made

separate from the large form but a pin or extension should be arranged

so that it will fit into a groove on the larger form. This can then be

built together by the addition of a little cement.

 

GARDEN SEATS. The seat and ends can be made by using wooden forms which

can be released easily. Openings in the ends can be arranged by either

the use of wooden blocks or clay bars placed in the right location.

These blocks or bars should be taken out after the cement has dried

three or four days. A few nails in the blocks will make it easier to

lift them out.

 

Tiles made as previously explained can be inserted into the ends by

scraping an opening to accommodate them while the cement is still soft.

A little cement poured into the back and around the edge will fasten the

two together.

 

GARDEN FOUNTAINS. The bowl for fountains should be made independent of

the base or pedestal, but arranged so that the two groove together. This

can be planned by taking a clay impression or a plaster casting from the

surface. For instance, in making a bowl to rest on a pedestal, the

bottom of the bowl should have keys or projections planned. Now

supposing the bowl is finished, a pedestal should have depressions in it

to correspond with the projections on the bottom of the bowl. To secure

these the bowl itself or an equivalent surface in clay or plaster must

be made to combine with the other parts of the molding case when the

pedestal is made. These keys or grooves can be scraped out of the

pedestal top when soft if care is taken to secure the right location. By

resting the bowl upon the top a slight indentation will be made so that

the indentation can be increased to the proper depth to secure complete

“register” between the two parts.

 

When making plaster mold cases for large pieces, burlap, coarse cloth,

etc., should be dipped rapidly into the plaster and used to build up the

molding case. This produces greater strength in the plaster case.

 

A DESIGN UNIT used on large pottery or as a border to any large surface

can be planned and modeled in modeling wax. From this model a mold is

made in plaster. The clay can be pressed into this mold, lifted out and

placed upon the surface to receive it. A slight pressure and joining of

the edges will make it conform to the surface.

 

TO REINFORCE LARGE PIECES, wire, iron rods, wire mesh, or any such

material will serve the purpose. Any narrow junction point or narrow

part connecting two large parts should be reinforced.

 

PIPE CONNECTIONS FOR WATER, GAS, OR ELECTRIC WIRES must be planned for

often in garden furniture. A round wooden rod with a smooth surface and

oiled, having a larger diameter than the pipe to be used should be used

in the mold. This is then withdrawn to make room for the iron pipe. A

pipe can be used in place of the wooden rod, but of course it is then

held firmly in place, becoming part of the mass. All pipe should be

threaded for proper connections, and it is very advisable that you

confer with a plumber or electrician so that no mistakes will be made.

 

Straight-sided forms can be made from tiles as follows: Take four tiles,

soaked in water, afterwards imbed them on edge upside down in a layer of

clay. They should be placed vertical and at right angles to each other.

It is also better that the corners do not meet. Within these four tiles

a clay cube is placed leaving a certain space all around for the wall.

The cube should also be lower than the height of the tile to allow for

the bottom as the box is made upside down. With clay or cardboard stop

the corners and then pour in cement to the top of the tiles. Let harden

for a few days; then remove clay, smooth up corners, and set in water to

harden. Fern dishes, plant holders, etc., can be made in this way with

as many sides as desired. The accompanying chart further explains this

problem.

 

GARDEN WALKS can be made with large irregular cement slabs or stones

formed with concrete. This will produce all the beauty that comes from

natural flagstones and enables anyone to secure the effect even when

flagstones are not securable. Flat tile or irregular tile can be

produced as a finish surface to the concrete base underneath, the whole

being one solid mass, eliminating much of the breaking up and loosening

that comes when separate tiles are placed in a surface.

 

COLOR CEMENT FLAGSTONES are made as follows: First prepare a solid earth

under-foundation. To do this the surface is pressed with an iron roller

or tamped with an iron tamper or heavy wooden block. If the surface has

been previously walked upon for some time, it will be good and solid. On

this surface indicate by scraping with a stick or trowel the shapes of

the flagstones desired, and scrape the earth out of these areas to a

depth of one to two inches. This surface is then sprayed with water

until it remains damp and is ready for placing the concrete mixture.

 

THE CONCRETE PROPORTIONS should be one part cement to two parts or three

parts gravel. These parts are mixed well together dry and then water is

added while it is mixed again. The best way to add the water is to have

one person spray the water from a hose while a second person uses a hoe

to mix the wet portions and expose the dry sections.

 

A MIXING TRAY can be made from wood and should hold water fairly well as

it is important that there be no leaks while the mixing is proceeding as

the leaking water may carry off much of the cement. After a box has been

used several times, the cracks and crevices will become filled and the

mixing tray will become more waterproof.

 

WHEN THE CONCRETE IS THOROUGHLY MIXED a portion is then taken and placed

in one of the scraped areas and shaped with a trowel. The sides should

be left thick and preferably tapering slightly upward. This prevents

breaking edges later when in use such as occurs if the edges overhang.

 

THE TOP LAYER should be of colored cement and may be a very thin layer,

but in order to be durable it should be composed of one-half part of

cement and one-half part of gravel or sand. This is mixed with color

sufficiently to tint it, but the color should not be too great in

quantity for it will weaken the strength of the mixture.

 

THE COLORS FOR THE CEMENT FLAGSTONES is dry color and may be Venetian

red, yellow, ochre, Indian red, lamp black, burnt umber, or burnt

sienna. This mineral color should be mixed in well with the dry concrete

before water is added. Colors can be changed by mixing one color into

another. For instance, the red can be made less intense by the addition

of burnt umber or with the addition of a little lamp black. When adding

another color to a cement mixture to which water has been combined, do

not add the color dry but mix it with water first until it is a paste before mixing it into the first mixture.