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Tiki-On-A-Budget |
Kewlava
Tiki Centralite
Joined: May 21, 2007
Posts: 47
From: Phoenix
|  Posted: 2007-11-03 11:50 am Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: Kewlava 2007-11-03 11:54 ]
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Kewlava
Tiki Centralite
Joined: May 21, 2007
Posts: 47
From: Phoenix
| Posted: 2007-11-03 11:51 am Permalink
Okay, I admit my instructions were a bit sketchy!
Here's a better description of how I made the "mold"...
I then mixed up a batch of mortar mix, to a consistancy of oatmeal. (Just
thin enough to pour).I slowly poured into the "mold" and used a disposable
bristle brush to chase out any bubbles.
I brushed vaseline onto the inside of the plastic mold, (as a separator)
before I poured the first one, but It's not really necessary, I skipped the
next three.
This is how the inside of the "mold" looks
after four pieces have been made from it.
To remove the CemenTiki (as I've named them)
Just turn the cured piece (mold and all) cement side down, and
then gently lift the mold from the piece. It will pop off, one
section at a time. There will be surface bubbles, but I think
that adds character!
I let them sit unmolested for several hours to finish curing out.
Have fun and good luck!
Kelly
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The Granite Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 02, 2005
Posts: 786
From: Nashua, NH
| Posted: 2007-11-03 2:50 pm Permalink
Gotchya, don't molest the cementiki until fully cured. 
Thanks so much for the instructions!
[ This Message was edited by: The Granite Tiki 2007-11-03 14:51 ]
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hewey
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 14, 2004
Posts: 4270
From: Sydney, Australia
| Posted: 2007-11-03 5:04 pm Permalink
Looks cool! Great budget tiki idea  I would love to see some of these painted up with a real weathered stone effect, and some moss on them.
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www.kustomkultureaustralia.com
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Unkle John
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 22, 2003
Posts: 1216
From: Middle-of-the-Ocean, TX
| Posted: 2007-11-03 5:46 pm Permalink
Dag-nabbit Kewlava, you beat me to the punch!
You can also pour it in the mold too, if you "grease" it up for reuse.
Say did you put a little bit or rebarb in there? I would to be safe. You can also take trick-or-treat buckets (shaped like a skull and what not), cut them along the mold line and tape them back together with plumbers tape, mix up you cement and pour in. Then you got some skulls or pumpkins (for a Halloween project)
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Texas Tikiphiles Unite!
[ This Message was edited by: Unkle John 2007-11-03 17:48 ]
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Kewlava
Tiki Centralite
Joined: May 21, 2007
Posts: 47
From: Phoenix
| Posted: 2007-11-04 08:54 am Permalink
Hey Unkle John, the rebar is a good idea. Since I'm gonna stick mine onto a cement block wall with more mortar mix, I didn't feel the re-inforcement was needed.
I like your Halloween skull idea too!
Yea, a little vaseline inside the "mold" isn't a bad insurance policy either.
I'll post some pix, when I get this project a bit farther along.
Kelly
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uncle trav
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 27, 2005
Posts: 1532
From: Kalamazoo
| Posted: 2007-11-04 10:11 am Permalink
My cousin made a bunch of tikis molded in cement from a party store decoration few years ago. I have one with the rebar and it's made it outside winter after winter without a problem. My sister has a couple without the rebar and all it took was a little nudge forward and they broke in half. Rebar is the way to go but the broken ones look cool coming out of the flower bed too.
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"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann
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pappythesailor
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 07, 2005
Posts: 1563
From: Mass.
| Posted: 2008-01-02 08:36 am Permalink
Didn't want to start a new thread so I'm sticking this here:
Staples (yes, Staples) has framed art on clearance for $14.90. Including this beauty.
Hurry and get yers.
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Musubi Mom
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jan 11, 2008
Posts: 22
From: Oceanside, CA
| Posted: 2008-01-11 4:01 pm Permalink
Really enjoyed seeing that other people think the tikis make great molds.I have been making the concrete Tikis for a few years. I use a box of wet sand instead of making a wood box to hold the mold. I also use a cooking spray as a release for the mold. My mix of portland or riverside cement, peat moss and vermulite makes the tikis a lot lighter. It can also give the tikis a more rock type finish. I use rebar drilled into the bottoms to make them stand up in the garden. Here is a pic of my tiki guys.
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Pakalolo Man
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Sep 07, 2007
Posts: 32 | Posted: 2008-02-22 5:07 pm Permalink
Aww, man I'm going to do this tomorrow!! A little shop three buildings down sells these atrocious plastic tikis. I was turned off when I first saw 'em but now I can't wait to buy one!!
Musubi Mom- what ratio of cement, peat moss, and vermiculite did you use? Those look awesome!!
-Pakalolo Man
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beadtiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 24, 2007
Posts: 929
From: Bothell, Washington
| Posted: 2008-02-23 5:41 pm Permalink
Tiki on a budget! I can dig that! I'm working on a Tiki bar and we bought this cheap-o bar on Craigslist, found free bamboo half-rounds that had been torn off the outside of an old Pan-Asian restaurant and then came up with the idea of tiling the counter. Not just any tile - I've been printing up SHAG Tiki pics, resizing them to 4.25" x 4.25" and taking them to a local pottery painting place (you know, where you paint on bisque figurines or whatever). It's a family project; my daughter has done 1 so far, my husband has done 3 and I've done the rest. The picture here represents just the first few we have done.
P.S. My husband's is the "pickle" (top left) and my daughter's is the one with the leaf (bottom right).
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Musubi Mom
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jan 11, 2008
Posts: 22
From: Oceanside, CA
| Posted: 2008-02-23 7:41 pm Permalink
Thanks Pakalolo man, the recipe is basically 1 part white cement to 2 to 3 parts something else. Sometimes I use just vermulite and sometimes peat moss and/or perlite. To fill up the mold with the legs it takes about 14 8oz cool whip bowls of the ingredients. Any mixture that dilutes the cement more than 5 to 1 gets too weak. It takes about 24 hours to set up enough to remove from the mold. Use a board about the tiki size and flip the mold over. The first couple of days you can chisel the lines deeper and wash gently with a brush and water to expose the vermulite. Leave the tiki laying on the board for a week or two. Curing takes about 4 weeks and can be done in a bucket of water to make the concrete stronger.
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Davez_tikiz
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 17, 2005
Posts: 333
From: Riverside, CA
| Posted: 2008-02-24 08:01 am Permalink
Musubi mom, those are so cool! I'm definitely going to try it... and I have a couple of those molds already. Can you tell us from left to right on your pic of the 5 tikis which product you mixed with to get each color? I really like the dark one (peat moss?), and my wife really likes the orange one.
Dave
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Davez_tikiz
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 17, 2005
Posts: 333
From: Riverside, CA
| Posted: 2008-02-24 10:05 am Permalink
Looked around a little bit and found some forums on something called "hypertufa". Is this the same thing- the cement/peat/vermiulite mix?
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Musubi Mom
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jan 11, 2008
Posts: 22
From: Oceanside, CA
| Posted: 2008-02-24 10:47 am Permalink
Hi Davez, yes the recipe is hypertufa. There is a lot of info out on the web. To get the various colors I used concrete color powder in black, tan and adobe. It only takes about 3 -4 tablespoons of powder to get the colors in the pic.You can also paint the finished tiki with any water based craft paint then seal with a concrete sealer. The tikis I painted 5 years ago still look great. The peat moss doesn't add much color it just makes the mix an off white color. From the left is tan, adobe, black, no color and not enough black powder.
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