Concrete stain
08-Jun-09
Beautiful concrete floor.
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Done by Garage and Storage Plus of Austin.
Institute of Mosaic Art
23-Jul-08
The Institute of Mosaic Art has lots of cool classes. Here’s one I would’ve loved to take:
VISITING ARTIST SERIES: SHERRI WARNER HUNTER
Concrete Institute
Instructor: Sherri Warner Hunter
Sessions: 5
Times: Saturday – Wednesday: 9a.m. – 4p.m.
Level: Beginning/Intermediate
Cost: $650
Materials:$95
Institute of Mosaic art is proud to host Sherri Warner Hunter for this week long intensive. Hunter is the author of “Making Concrete Garden Ornaments” and “Creative Concrete Ornaments for the Garden.” This is a rare opportunity to learn from a concrete master.
Make your dreams concrete! This intensive course will cover a variety of concrete forming techniques including armature building, carving, modeling, and polymer fortified concrete systems. Participants will create three projects; a foam and polymer fortified concrete sculpture, a faux rock and a carved hypertufa planter. Each project utilizes a different concrete recipe and forming techniques. A variety of surface treatments will be demponstrated and discussed with plenty of opportunity for experimentation Bring sketches of concrete projects you’d like to realize for discussion. No previous experience with concrete is necessary.
Visual presentations, demonstrations and handouts will provide inspiration and information to take with you to utilize in your own studio.
PARTICIPANTS SHOULD BRING:
* Sketch or notebook
* Apron or wear work clothes
* Ruler, yardstick, carpenter’s square
* Sharpie Markers
* Scissors
* Angle cutters, lineman pliers, and needle nose pliers*
* Straight cut aviator shears*
(* These are good basic tools for participants to have for future sculpture and metal working projects. Instructor will bring some tools for student use if participants don’t have their own.)
* Small pointing trowel
* Steel trowel (flat rectangle)
* Plastic spray bottle
* Yellow (cleaning type) latex gloves
* Leather work gloves
(These items will be available for sale on site at Mosaic Studio Supply.)
“The concrete was on fire!…”
13-Jun-08
She wrote:
“…the basics: I’m 26 — old enough to engage you in intelligent discussion but young enough to still appreciate drunken mischief, adventures, and misadventures. I’m cute (so I’ve been told), petite and Asian. I pay the bills by working as an chemical engineer. I love traveling, rock concerts, good company with vino, and napping. I hate Vegas, egoists, and having to post here for a decent date…”
My response:
Hi,
I fear I’m too late to invite you out to Indiana Jones tonight. But perhaps we can go see “Kung Fu Panda”? Or “The Chronicles of Narnia”?
We have a lot in common, you and I. For example, you love napping. I love napping! I’m an Olympic-calibre napper, in fact. But it’s not all sloth at Chez Rasch. There’s gluttony too. You know who makes a really good burger? Dairy Belle, in Belmont. It doesn’t look like much on the outside, but hmmm..mmmh, they make a tasty burger.
I’m sad that you hate Vegas, BTW. They have Cirque de Soleil shows! And Penn and Teller! And those magical gay guys, before the tiger ate one of them. So I hope someday you give Vegas another chance.
What chemicals do you engineer by the way? Do you have any favorites? My favorite chemicals are perfluorocarbon and chlorine trifluoride.
You’re probably familiar with their chemical properties already, but I like perfluorocarbon because it’s so non-toxic and dissolves oxygen so readily that you can actually breathe it. It’s what the rat was breathing in the Abyss:
http://www.engadget.com/2004/10/01/movie-gadget-friday-the-fluid-breathing-system-from-the-abyss/
And I like chlorine trifluoride because it’s such a strong oxidizer that it will burn sand and asbestos tile:
http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/02/26/sand_wont_save_you_this_time.php
If you look up “badass” in the CRC, there’s a picture of chlorine trifluoride.
As for pictures of me (along with a more extensive profile), you can find them at my okcupid profile:
http://www.okcupid.com/profile/crasch4
So…a movie perhaps? Or coffee? Or if you’d like a more active date, I’ve been eager to try out Sky High Sport:
http://www.jumpskyhigh.com/
If any of those appeal, let me know. I look forward to (maybe) meeting you!
Chris
——
I didn’t include this in my response, but I thought it was pretty cool:
“…During the liquid rocket propellant era, a major incident involving ClF3 occurred the first time a one-ton steel container was loaded with liquid ClF3 for bulk shipment. The container had been cooled with dry ice to perform the liquid transfer and help make the product safer to handle, since the ClF3 vapor pressure would only be about 0.007 kg/cm2 (0.1 psia) in the subcooled state. However, the dry ice bath embrittled the steel container wall, which split while it was being maneuvered onto a dolly, instantaneously releasing 907 kg (2,000 lb) of cold ClF3 liquid onto the building floor. The ClF3 dissolved the 30 cm (12 inch) thick concrete floor and another 90 cm (36 inches) of gravel underneath the spill. The fumes that were generated (chlorine trifluoride, hydrogen fluoride, chlorine, hydrogen chloride, etc.) severely corroded everything that was exposed.3 One eyewitness described the incident by stating, “The concrete was on fire!…”
Aerblock
11-Aug-07
Via greenbuilding.com. Aerblock home page.
“AAC is lightweight, about a fifth the weight of concrete. It will float on water)“
“Michael has become the Pied Piper of AerBlock because he believes it is the perfect building material. It is light-weight, so it is easy to lift the blocks, and because of all the trapped air, it is a good thermal insulating and sound deadening material. Since it is masonry, it is completely fire proof and very durable, without harboring insects, rodents or mold. It is quite easy to build with and very versatile in the style of projects that can be accomplished. It is environmentally benign in that the material does not off-gas and can be installed as a breathable shell for habitation. The cost of building with AerBlock is comparable to many other building systems.
The process of manufacturing AAC is worth explaining. The basic ingredients are very simple: water, fine silica sand, Portland cement, lime, and a pinch of aluminum powder. These materials are mixed and placed into a large vat where a chemical reaction occurs that causes the mixture to expand like rising bread dough. Up to 80% of AerBlock is air. The curing process releases hydrogen gas, which is completely benign. Within a short while the dough can be sliced by pushing it through some taught wires.
The autoclaving part of the process begins when the slabs of dough are placed into a heated and pressurized tank for about half a day. During this curing time the material undergoes another chemical transformation and becomes Tobermorite (calcium silicate). At this point the mineral is completely inert and ready to be cut and shaped into a variety of forms useful for construction. “
Bendable concrete
11-Aug-07
Airkrete
09-Aug-07
Airkrete, lightweight foamed concrete insulation.