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Bought a fresh cart to mix concrete in. They are waterproof, hold 1200 pounds, can be pulled behind the Deere and dump. But they have channels in the bottom.
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80 grit sanding pads to rough up the surface
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Fiberglass resin dumped to fill the channels.
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Did not count on the resin shrinking and pulling away. Hmmm. Must re-think how to flatten the bottom of the cart.
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As expected - the resin came out in full, neat pieces.
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It did adhere to the bolt heads, which is why some of the pieces broke very neatly as I pulled them out.
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Grass and roots cleared for the step for the shed and my two favorite tools for clearing grass - a mattock to lift the grass and roots and a thatching rake to level.
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Width of the 2x4 marked and pilot holes drilled.
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Setting up to nail the form together.
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Everything lined up.
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Duplex nails driven into their stops. These nails are designed for temporary frames and the nails can be easily removed.
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L-brackets on each corner for extra strength.
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Form in place. It is a 6-foot span and concrete is heavy. I used 2 clamps to (hopefully) prevent the weight of the concrete from bowing out the middle of the form.
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First bag mixed. The cart worked very well even with the grooves in the bottom.
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First bag poured into the form. I used a gallon pail to scoop out of the cart and pour into the mold. I used the trowel to push the concrete into the corners and sides and sorta jiggled it to (hopefully) settle the concrete into the corners and edges.
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Third bag poured into the form. This is half of the concrete. Looks like I better prep a couple of paver molds.
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6 80 pounds bags of concrete was enough for a 6x1 foot form 8 inches high plus 2 paver molds plus not enough to do anything with.
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Not professionally smooth, but good enough to be a step. Now we will see how many pine cones the tree throws on it.
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2 weeks in the form should be enough. It is pulling away from the side of the form :-)
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Removed the brackets from the front sides
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A stake for added leverage - you want the pull force to be straight to the nail for easiest removal
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Remove the front form board and the side screws from the rear brackets. Since I can not get to the nail in the rear board, a pry-bar removes the side boards.
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Wiggle the rear board out and the I have a step :-)
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Verifying that I left enough clearance to make the back of the step - I did :-)
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Apparently 2 weeks is long enough for the concrete to take on the pattern of the form board. Which I think turned out kinda cool
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I should have made the first batch wetter to avoid an obvious transition between batches. I do not think it will fall apart - live and learn.
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The butterfly paver. Still looks pretty wet. But it came right out of the mold - like a Bundt cake :-)
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The dragon fly paver. 2 days to cure should have been correct extrapolating from the directions on the bag.
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Visible cracks in the ridge
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Not just a crack :-(
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Two pieces came off. Not sure if I didn't pack the concrete in well enough, not enough mold release, or still too wet and fragile when I released them.
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Dragon fly detail - not perfect.
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Dragon fly detail some more.
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Butterfly detail. A little sandy in areas and smooth in others. I am sure there is a fix for that. But as long as they do not crumble as they finish drying, I am happy with my first attempt :-)
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Dragonfly paver at 2 weeks - me thinks it is ready to paint...
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as is the butterfly paver
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