"Casting my own retaining wall stones from concrete?" Topic

Has anyone done this? I was thinking about playing around with some of the products Smooth-On makes:

smooth-on.com/concrt.htm

I figure it's like making my own GIANT Hirst Arts molds.

Would it be cost effective? I'm guessing not (even if my labor is worth nothing), but still, it's fun to think about.

Anyway, if you have hints, suggestions, or comments, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

It's not worth making a urethane mold for something you're only going to use a few times. You can make a mold to use once or a few times from cheaper materials like plaster, plywood, silicone caulk, and many others.

It's also worth noting that casting concrete is different from casting plaster. It takes a lot more work to remove air from wet concrete. Also, there are many variables in the combination of water, cement, sand, aggregate and other ingredients. If you have not cast concrete before you'll want to practice before making your final product.

Ultimately, the challenge would be making something as strong as the commercial product you would otherwise use. If you just want to make stone shapes, you are probably better off just buying them. If you have a specific design in mind, then casting it yourself might be the only way to accomplish it.

Cool link. I suppose it depends on how cheaply you can purchase your raw materials.

LLC aka Ron

I tried using these once but everyone said they were overscale then the table collapsed……

How are you going to make the "original" block that you are going to make a mold out of?

Otherwise, like others have said, you are better off makin your forms out of plywood. OR, you can probably even find someone who already makes the forms. (I know I saw one in the SkyMall catalog to make your own patio blocks…)