Thanks Mr. DeLand for the welcome. My mom would have said to the second line of that post "okay smart-donkey", but with a word replacement. And thanks again all for the information.

Well, here's what I feel like I learned with my first making experience with cloth-tufa (and maybe it will help you with your first time-experience):

1) If you are used to the regular hyper-tufa mixes, I feel like I found that the mix satifactory for this use (more portland cement; less mixer, more water), that the mix tends to set up much faster than standard hyper-tufa mix. With hyper-tufa mix, I could make a large batch and make several pieces from one batch without concern.

2) In the same lines as 1) above, if this wasn't already previously written in this post (and I just missed it), I think it may be best to moisten the cloth before exposing it to the mix (though I don't know if I will try this yet, since I think I will wait and see how this first batch turns out and holds up before making any further). I found that upon exposure, the mix seemed to start to set up immediately (even though one batch I got a little too soupy).

3) It seemed the mix adhered better to thinner cloth (I used wash cloths and hand towels). First small batch was thin wash cloths and second was the fluffy fat ones. Even though my mix was cake-like batter to begin with, as I said above, when I exposed the cloth to the mixture it immediately seemed to begin to set up. On the fluffy cloth, it seemed the mix wanted to fall off the cloth when hung even though I had fully saturated it. This is when I thought it might work better if the cloth was pre-moistened.

4) That painting on additional layers can be *very* messy.

5) That you might be able to find things you already have to use as your hanging posts ... bricks and vases.

Hope you all are having fun!

Here's some photos after just made (one round pot used; one square pot and one deep rectangular pot):

Just a thought. I've noticed that towels are less absorbent when they have been dried with dryer sheets.

I'm thinking a detergent and water wash followed by a rinse might sometimes help cement adherence.

Those pots are looking great Hoosier! They will especially when you flip them up.

Sorry to hear the thick towels didn't work out for you. They do have to be soaked and wrung out first. I haven't run into the problems you have described with the towels or mix hardening so fast, yet have been doing hypertufa many years now. I wonder if its much dryer where you are and with less humidity?

Your first draped pots look like they are going to be a great success!

I have discovered mine to be very durable and the less weight feature a plus!

I like your detergent idea Ron!

Photo of above (first photo) round pot out of its form:



My least favorite is the square one. If I ever did another, I would probably cut the wash cloth on two of the corners.

Deep rectangular came out nice, but didn't want to move it. Too much clutter in the photo to actually see the curves and contour. Kinda same with the above.

I further found painting isn't so bad on the small containers once they are out of the form. You can hold the container over the paint pan while painting on the additional mix. I was originally trying to put a first coat on with the container still on it's form so that the mix would run in the same direction as original. I kind of defeated my purpose in putting on a second coat of mix.

I also found that it is best to use as flimsy as pots as you can. I had to use plyers and bend and twist them (and broke some) to get them out of the container.

I wonder how many additional coats of mix would be good?

All of our first attempts can be challenging.

We wouldn't want to scare others away from the concept until we've worked with it a little longer......

A book could be written on early mishaps and also on later success' in all artistic endeavors using new techniques in any medium.

The one you have last pictured Hoosier,... reminds me of the one I called a "Blob Pot" earlier in this thread. It was in fact the first one I sold!!!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and none of these pots will ever be beautiful to anyone who has a firm faith in round smooth surfaces and sleek sides when it comes to pots.

Its a FACT!:

# 1 trillion and something.

( in the world of David of DeLands mind on Planet Earth.)

I agree not to scare people away from trying it ... hopefully I haven't done that. Sometimes I guess I felt it's a little better to know a little what one might expect, or be prepared for.

Your line, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ...", is why I wanted to try making these. I purposely made a real blob as well as the pots. Reason why is because I sell cut flowers at an afternoon farmer's market. I arrange them previously in vases and like to display them in the vases or cups (small bouquets) on my table. It can be very windy at the market and I can seldom have a nice display and many times they just have to stay contained in larger buckets so they won't blow over. So after making hyper-tufa containers, I decided to try to make some vase holders with hyper-tufa. My first batch were supposed to be square and came out all cock-eyed (I tried using a long box and separate it with petitions to make 3 at once. People wanted to buy those vase holders. I did sell one with the bouquet, but kept others until I could get more made (that's done now with that smooth-nice edge form). I didn't show a photo of my blob, because I thought people would think it was really ugly. Supposed to look kind of like a sponge and I left crevices to plant small semps.

As I said,

My tee shirt blob was the first of these to sell!!!

Have no fear and these will look great with flowers. Inner glass vase?

You are doing great!

Today I'm going to try making these using scraps of quilt batting. Out of towels so need another fabric source. I'm thinking it should absorb very well.

I thought of that as well, Jean, but worried that since batting isn't woven, it might pull apart with the weight of the cement. I'm anxious to see how it does for you.

I used 100% cotton batting & it turned out not much different than using a towel.

Everyone who sees these wants one!!!!!

We want to see them!!!

I made a doz to sell at the plant sale last week. They were a HUGE hit & all sold. Guess I know I need to make more for our next event. Of course, since I sold all I had, I have no aged ones to start painting!!!

Congrats on your success, Jean!

How exciting Jean. When are you going to start on some new ones.

Has anyone seen David?

Congratulations Jean.

No I have not seen David in a while. You think he is cemented to the floor somewhere?

Last time he was on I was threatening to do a midnight raid at his house. Maybe he is locking everything down. David, Oh David come out we miss you.

Tried making these about a month ago and had some beginners luck. All 4 turned out great: had to use tin snips to get the molds out of 3 - will need additional release agent next time; one mold/bowl would just not cooperate so it has become a permanent fixture inside the pot.






First question - what kind/s of paint works well ? cement colorant/wood stain/ other ? ? Some of Dave's pictures seemed to have variegated colors - maybe even pastel or florescent ? ? ?

Second question - Some of you have pictures showing the tops of your pots flaring out or even bent over like a leaf. How do you get that affect ?

Any comment/suggestions - success/failure stories would be very helpful.

Pam, your beginner's luck is totally beautiful! Good for you. I can't help you with the paint, but I plan to use some sort of stain if I paint mine at all, something thin enough to soak into the porous cement. I think they are beautiful left natural, too, but I'm thinking I want mine to have various shades of natural coloring, mostly greens and browns.

And welcome to ATP!

Hi Pam, and a great big to ATP.
Pam here is what David used for his paint. But I think using the cement stains/paints would work also. Or as Sharon said in above post, most any paint/stain that would soak in and be weather proof should work.
http://garden.org/thread/view_...

Yours turned are beautiful. I can't wait to see how you paint them.

...a big WELCOME to you Pam!
And thank you for sharing your project's great looking results. Enjoy making them even more pretty!

As for flaring & bending the tips over - there is a small window of opportunity. For me it is about 6 hours. They are set but still pliable enough to form a bit. Also a good time to get the form out.

I have a few old enough to try some paint on. Just waiting for cooler days.