Concrete Vibrator

Concrete Vibrator

How to Get Consistent Thickness When Using Variable Depth Concrete Molds

Many customers purchase concrete or plaster molds that are deeper or thicker than the desired thickness that they want to reproduce.  This could be due to design availability or the fact that the mold style they like only comes in a deeper or thicker mold. Sometimes there may be a set of multiple moulds with the same face style, but different depths, and there is a need for consistent thickness of the finished tile or stone. Let's say that you purchased a concrete stone mold that was three-inches deep and thus would make a three-inch thick stone when poured full. Or that you purchased four molds, with each being a different depth.  What if you wanted to make a lot of stone veneer that was uniformly only one-inch thick from those molds?  How would you go about getting a consistent thickness of one-inch?

 

There are actually two options or methods open to you.  Let's say that the molds you would be receiving are made with black ABS, so a regular black magic marker would be difficult to see if you tried writing on the black plastic mold with it.  What we use is a silver marker to mark the stock numbers on our black ABS plastic molds. And it works fine for us. You can pick one of these silver or gold metallic ink markers up at any stationary supply store. Measure one inch up from the bottom on the inside of the mold with a straight ruler and make a line. Repeat that on all four sides of the mould.  Once you have your molds marked at the height desired it's just a matter of filling your mold with concrete up to that line each time you pour your concrete batch. Fill the mold with a little bit extra concrete or plaster so when you bounce and vibrate the concrete to level it, it ends up level with your lines. Each stone, tile, or other item will be the same thickness when you remove it from the mould, no matter how deep the original mold is.

 

A second method is to fill your mold with water to the thickness (depth of mold) that you desire... in this case, one inch deep.  Again, use a ruler as before but this time use it to measure the depth of the water.  Be sure that the mold is on a flat and level surface.  Once you have sufficient water in the mold to the depth that you want, take a plastic pail or other container, and carefully empty the water from the mold into the pail. With the pail on a flat and level surface, use a magic marker, pencil, or you can spray paint onto the inside of the pail at the water line. You will then have a line on the inside of the pail, (or a paint line if you used spray paint), where the water ended. Be sure to allow the paint to dry thoroughly if you use the spray paint method before emptying the water.

 

Now you can use the batch pail, for lack of a better term, as your predetermined measuring instrument.  Fill the pail with your mixed concrete batch to the line you previously made with the marker, pencil, or paint. Bounce or vibrate it a bit and level it off so it touches the line all the way around. Then dump the measured concrete mix into your mold.  Bounce, shake, and vibrate the concrete mix that is now in your mold until it is level. Again, be sure that you are working on a flat, level surface when filling your mold.  Each filling should yield the exact same thickness of finished stone, tile, or other item you are duplicating.

  

About the Author

John Panagos founded Olde World Stone and Tile in 1992 to market his Olde World concept and system worldwide. As a pioneer, he's become a recognized authority in the DIY stone and tile mold products segment of the concrete products industry. He's written numerous training manuals, as well as dozens of articles for the industry. For more information, photos and DIY project instructions visit The Mold Store website, or email Info@Oldeworld.com

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