Japanese Bird Bath Bowl Made From Concrete

Paul Dan
by Paul Dan
11 Materials
$60
2 Weeks
Advanced
I graduated ceramic at the fine art high school in 2010, so I'm very passionate in ceramics an sculpture but because I didn't Had enough money at that time to buy a kiln for burning my clay sculptures I tried to find other materials that are hard like clay and stone and I can mould it. So I made some research and I found some videos about concrete sculptures and I started to make my projects in concrete because it's a very durable material and lasts for a long time.
This is the plan for the bowl, you can see here the different layers of materials.
I start this project by cutting some polystyrene discs to make the oustside shape of the bowl, after completing the bowl shape I use some lard (you can use cooking oil, motor oil, vax) to lube the form to prevent the plaster mold sticking to the form.
After that I made some deviders from 3 mm MDF to devide the 3 parts mold, then I started to make the plaster mold first I used a brush to get the details from the form then I used a puty knive.
I made the inside mold the same way but on the top of the mold which will be the bottom of the bowl I put a plastic disc and then I put a wire thru the disc and the mold so I can get the mold out of the bowl and use it again, then used packing tape to wrap the mold with so the concrete bowl won't stick to the mold. After thet I glued the extruded polystyrene disc to the mold with double stick tape and the to the particle board.
After smoothing the molds with 120 grit sandpaper I'm using solvent based paint to seal it.
Now I get ready to pour the concrete. First I'm glue the inside mold to the particle board.
Then I'm usinng ratchet strap to hold the molds in place because the concrete it's very heavy especially when it's wet.
For concrete I'm using a ratio of 1 part portland cement to 1.5 parts sand and glass fibers. I put water untill is runny enough so I can pour it, but dont use too much water because it will weaken the concrete.
After demolding, the bowl has some pores on the surface so I made a cement slury to fill the pores. And after the slury has dried I used a 80 grit sandpaper to remove the excess.
And this is the final product! icon
And this is the final product! icon
Suggested materials:
  • Plaster of paris   (local home improvement store)
  • Concrete   (local home improvement store)
  • Sand   (local home improvement store)
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