Comment by jared oshanski on July 12, 2012 at 8:30pm

I think you should definitely try the lathe your'e speaking of and go from there. I'm not a veteran in this industry but I found out very quickly there is more than one way to skin a cat in decorative concrete. As long as you don't think it will compromise the structural integrity  I'm willing to bet it will work just fine. Even using Spider lathe for an armature is a make shift solution as it wasn't really designed for rock carving and etc.  but it works. its all about improvising ways to make the final piece look nice and act strong. Hope this helps.       

Comment by Hobby Carver on July 13, 2012 at 3:21am

Thanks Jared

Yeh i think it will be fine it looks much the same maybe just a bit smaller holes in the lathe.

My only other concern is that its a fairly decent sized area and im mixing it up myself and i dont think im gonna be able to cover it all in one go. Do you think this will be a problem or should be fine?

Cheers mate.

Comment by jared oshanski on July 13, 2012 at 10:01am

I think it should be fine Matt. Try some bonding agent for the jointed sections where you left off the day before. If you get get to it the next morning the mix from the previous day usually has a bit of moisture left in it and splices nicely. I live in Alberta Canada and have the same trouble finding suppliers and paying shipping costs. I still use straight ready mix mason cement to carve sometimes! LOL

Comment by Hobby Carver on July 13, 2012 at 3:38pm

Cool thanks Jared Ill see how it goes.

Comment by Richard Batey on July 14, 2012 at 11:13am

You definitely need more rebar.The spacing between your rebar should be no more than 12" on center if I remember correctly.And I would just use landscaping fabric behind the rebar.You want to fully encapsulate that rebar in the concrete.Just my two cents worth.Good luck with your project.

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