Dry cast sandstone

Sean d

Sean d

Zorg Expert (I)
Supporter
British Zeds
Joined
Sep 29, 2015
Points
201
Location
Lincolnshire
Model of Z
Z3 2.8
Does anyone on here have any technical knowledge on the above, myself and a colleuge have been researching it but can't find a great deal so hade a crack at it today,
A basic mould was made to create a rustic quoin, which is what you see around external door frames and windows, we used kiln dried fine sand and white cement,
To 4kgs of mix we added 300ml of water, the mix was very dry but would press together so it was put in the mould and tamped in place with a lump hammer to compress it, it was then turned over and the mould removed,
We are really pleased with the outcome but it takes in the region of 2 weeks to fully cure, I love stuff like this and the oppertunties are endless, looking to do some really intricate stuff in the near future
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Hmmm. Interesting indeed. Not a lot of people know this but I own a bank. Oh yes. At some point in the past one of the front windows had the sill moved up so they could fit an ATM underneath, obviously the machine has gone now and I'd like to refit the sill back to where it used to be, but I'd need the matching bits of stone for the sides, if you see what I mean. Hadn't thought of "making" stone, but now that you mention it I'm having ideas.;) Not top of the list of priorities, but definitely on there somewhere.
 
the Nefyn cat said:
Hmmm. Interesting indeed. Not a lot of people know this but I own a bank. Oh yes. At some point in the past one of the front windows had the sill moved up so they could fit an ATM underneath, obviously the machine has gone now and I'd like to refit the sill back to where it used to be, but I'd need the matching bits of stone for the sides, if you see what I mean. Hadn't thought of "making" stone, but now that you mention it I'm having ideas.;) Not top of the list of priorities, but definitely on there somewhere.
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It depends how old the bank is as it was more then likely dry cast in the first place, its been around for about 300 years but was very popular during Victoian times as it is very cost effective in comparrison to stone carving, for larger pieces it needs rebar to give it structual strengh, the quoin above have a fibre glass mesh in the middle to tie it
 
the Nefyn cat said:
As far as I can tell the bank was built in the late 1920s/early 30s, nobody seems to know much more. Sure looks like real stone, but I haven't looked too closely, plenty of other stuff to do.
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When its done properly its very difficult to tell the difference between carved and dry cast
 
Either live in it, or sell. Up to any quotes/suggestions from estate agents once it's done. Not a huge place, but enough for a couple of bedrooms. Just makes me feel a bit smug when I can say I own a bank, wish I could track down some of the tw@s who said I'd never amount to anything.;)
 
the Nefyn cat said:
Either live in it, or sell. Up to any quotes/suggestions from estate agents once it's done. Not a huge place, but enough for a couple of bedrooms. Just makes me feel a bit smug when I can say I own a bank, wish I could track down some of the tw@s who said I'd never amount to anything.;)
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Surely its only a Bank if its full of money?? You mean you own an old building that was once used as a bank? :whistle::whistle:=))=))
 
Probably just a washer that never got it's hole punched .......... :whistle:

Tony.
 
Went and had a look today, could be real, could be man-made, don't really know what I'm looking at. One of the drawbacks of having spent a lifetime being a mechanic, I guess.:rolleyes: And yes I do know those are ///M gills on a non-///M. Don't care, so there.;)
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the Nefyn cat said:
Went and had a look today, could be real, could be man-made, don't really know what I'm looking at. One of the drawbacks of having spent a lifetime being a mechanic, I guess.:rolleyes: And yes I do know those are ///M gills on a non-///M. Don't care, so there.;)
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So the sand stone is ok, its just the stone you need, that should be quite easy to source
 
Sean d said:
So the sand stone is ok, its just the stone you need, that should be quite easy to source
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If you take a look at the top picture you'll see that the left sill is higher than the right-hand one, that's for the ATM back whenever that was fitted. Doesn't really matter, but at some point I'll have to sort out some new frames and fit some double-glazed units into them, would be nice to restore the sill to its original height. It'll match all the other windows round the side and back then. Can use the stone from below the existing window to fill in the hole left by the ATMs' removal, just need to come up with some bits of sand-stone type stuff for the sides. Still, not top of the list, and doesn't really matter anyway.
 
the Nefyn cat said:
If you take a look at the top picture you'll see that the left sill is higher than the right-hand one, that's for the ATM back whenever that was fitted. Doesn't really matter, but at some point I'll have to sort out some new frames and fit some double-glazed units into them, would be nice to restore the sill to its original height. It'll match all the other windows round the side and back then. Can use the stone from below the existing window to fill in the hole left by the ATMs' removal, just need to come up with some bits of sand-stone type stuff for the sides. Still, not top of the list, and doesn't really matter anyway.
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I see it now, so you could lower the original sill and cast some uprights, very basic mould to make them, should be quite straight forward
 
Here's hoping, eh? Hadn't even considered making my own, thanks for a touch of inspiration.:thumbsup: Won't be for a while, but one day........:rolleyes:

Have to work out some way of "weathering" the finish, must be some type of dye that could be used. Time to sit on the interweb researching (getting distracted by stuff I don't need to be looking at).
 
For me I like to be able to read a building’s history and guess at what it used to be. So I think it’s part of the character to have that sill higher :)

I think I’d just be filling in the hole so it almost blends in but doesn’t quite so you can see there was something there before.

If I’m honest I tend to suffer irrational levels of excitement when I see a blocked up aperture in an old building. It’s great to guess what it might have been there for and why it was blocked up.

Round my way they even build new houses with fake blocked up windows.

And I love your casting @Sean d . Your next career beckons :)
 
the Nefyn cat said:
Here's hoping, eh? Hadn't even considered making my own, thanks for a touch of inspiration.:thumbsup: Won't be for a while, but one day........:rolleyes:
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When that day comes I should be an expert by then so you can commision me to do them :D
 
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