Long Winded Dissertation on Heat, Curing, Beauty & Life

18 years ago

A comment posted by MuddyMesaWoman regarding working in the "triple digit heat in NM" prompted me to elaborate on this sometimes confusing issue.

As you are all no doubt aware by now, having dealt with the mystical process of trying to successfully cure a piece that you have a lot of time invested in...can be frustrating. Especially if the aforementioned piece cracks, crumbles or never does set solid. I hate it when that happens. But don't blame the heat.

While most people are, or quickly learn to be, well atuned to the very real role that temperature can play in this process, I've found very few who are aware that it is actually air movement that plays the biggest role in the premature dehydration of any given piece of cementious work. Whether it's a concrete bridge or a 'Tufa budvase. That's right...Wind. Breezes. Air. It is responsible for removing more of the moisture than any amount of heat. In fact, you can actually make triple digit heat work for you.

Probably the most controlled hydration proceedure that exists today is a high-tech process known as a "steam cure". And, as you may recall from high school, steam is just water in a gaseous state and it requires heat to form. Well, cement can handle quite a bit of heat...but the trick is to keep the moisture from escaping too rapidly. That means eliminating or minimizing the air movement over the work that carries the moisture away. How? Wrap it in plastic. The more air-tight the better. And do it as early on as is feasible, 'cause that's when it is really the most critical. Early onset shrinkage will destroy even the best of mixes.

Some of the old-time Faux Bois artisans were wrongly accused of secreting their proceedures from prying eyes by working only behind large canvas curtains...which they did. And, while it certainly did help keep many of their trade secrets secret...the real purpose was to simply keep the wind off of the medium while they were working.

Believe me, I know how great it feels to have a fan on you as you merrily sweat your way through sculpting something on a hot summers day ( I do work in Texas, remember...), but the effect on any cement product can be fatal. Even the lightest of breezes can rob critical moisture from the mix too rapidly and cause it to fail. Keep it off! The more air movement you keep off, the more moisture you'll keep in. Avoid any breezes while you are working, then seal it up as best you can. Plastic trash bags, plastic roll sheeting, anything that is air & moisture tight will compensate for the heat. As I said earlier, a "steam cure" is top-of-the-line, and given enough ambient heat, it's something even you and I can pull off a low-tech version of. And you can do it using solar-power. Instead of clear plastic bags from the dry cleaners...use BLACK plastic bags or wrap (I found & ordered some bags that are 5 feet tall thru an online industrial supply house).

As soon as you are done working and have enough initial set to permit some movement and suface moisture...wet the work thoroughly using your hoses "mist" setting, then seal it as air tight as possible. Inflating the bag a little will help keep it from fouling the surface. Then, rather than hiding it from the heat, place it where it will get as much direct sun as possible. The moisture given up from the hydrating cement will condense on the inside of the now very hot, black plastic and create a relatively non-diminishing, self-recycling water supply that will insure optimal hydration.

I now place any of my work that will be difficult to lift or move (but will fit), into one those large bags before I even begin my final finish and roll it down out of my way. Then when I'm done sculpting and ready to move into the curing stage, I mist the piece well and fill the bottom of the bag with as much water as will not interfere with the work, pull it up, trap enough air to make the bag stand on it's own, then seal it tight. After that, the sun does the misting for me by creating a superhumid environment that even a strong wind can't carry away.

The Mercer Arboretum piece was cured using the process above. And it employed mixes that demand nothing less than supercritical curing proceedures during a period when it remained over a hundred degrees daily for weeks.

As always, I hope some of you may benefit from the bits & pieces of knowledge I've been able to wrestle from the Muses over the years and ask only two things; that you use it to pursue whatever form of beauty you can bring into this world...and, that you share whatever knowledge you acquire along the way with anyone else so inclined. If you underestimate your own power to make the world just a little bit better, it never will be.

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Comments (10)

rockhewer
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks again Tango, This is some incredibly useful information you've discovered/shared. I'll be trying it out ASAP. You must have some kinds stamina to work in those conditions. I hope you stay well hydrated too LOL.
mabeldingeldine_gw
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Tango,

Thanks for this terrific info. Your experience with the process is vast compared to mine, and willingness to share your knowledge is very generous. Your work is gorgeous! If I am ever in Texas, I will look for the Arboretum.

Thanks,
Mabel in Maine
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MuddyMesaWoman
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Tango,

Thanks for the info, I was under the assumption that too much heat was as bad as too little in the curing of concrete.

Actually, my main point in reference to the heat was MY ability to deal with it, ESPECIALLY, as I now know, when I would be absolutely bathed in the airflow of multiple fans as my preference. Sigh. I'll suck it up and try the breeze-free option, cuz I'd hate to go to all that trouble only to have my finished product compromised cuz I couldn't "handle the heat." ;D I wonder if literally incorporating sweat into concrete helps or hinders....?

As for giving the end product the "steam bath" treatment, that's no problem. It should be truly poached within a short time.

Actually, our monsoon season is just getting underway, which will mean temps in the low 90s. It may be only psychological, but I feel more able to handle the double digit temps than the triple digits.

Thanks again Tango. You are a fount of information and I look forward to learning more from you as time goes on.

Tah for now.

Jo aka MMW
tango88
Original Author
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Jo --- I can deinitely relate to dealing with the heat. Be careful...it can do you in. I confess to being guilty of getting so focused on the work at hand, that I did indeed come close to collapsing a couple of weeks ago (heat index was somewhere over 110). It's all too easy to do, since once you mix your materials, you know they sure as heck aren't going to work on your schedule and you just gotta' keep going, no matter what. So to everyone working outdoors in high temps...try to at least take as many heat precautions for yourself...as you do your work. And, by the way, if you are lucky enough to have a Grainger Supply near you...I just discovered they have Gatorade in a liquid concentrate that makes six gallons for about $10 or $11 bucks. Stay cool.
Blooming_Stone
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I cool my core temp by wearing cooling gel-filled bandanas. I made them using the gel out of throw-away diapers (the only time I ever bought them - really). They work for me. I feel the heat, but I don't feel addled by it. I've linked to a site that sells the ones that inspired me to some for my family.

Tango, you may have solved the worry I have now about water-curing. I use acrylic admix and have no idea if I'm messing the whole thing up by soaking the tufa pots from day 7-14. I will be "steam-curing" from now on. I'm slowly setting up a "mist pit", as well. I could use it for about 7 months/year. It will be a hose, set on a very fine mist, hanging under the canopy of a horse-chestnut tree.

I do fill the planters with water at day 14 and change it daily for about a week. When there's no scum, the ph is 7 (neutral). On the first day, it's 10 (alkaline).

Blooming

Here is a link that might be useful: cooling bandana
Wayfind
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
And here I was picturing Blooming in a diaper hat..
LOL!
Still popping in here once in a while to see what's going on and get some tips, always make a point to read Tango's threads, I really hope you do put a book together!
Invaluable information, thank you!
artfart
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Tango,

Thank you for the great information. I too will be taking your advice and heating things up. I used to cure this way but changed after reading all the stuff about keeping it cool. Thanks again.

Amy
Fleur
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I'm new to concrete leaf casting and a couple of days ago I finished one good sized rhubarb concrete leaf but the leaf is adhering to the surface. Currently I have it in the sun, trying to get the debris to dry enough to shrink or flake off. If it takes several more days, is it too late to begin curing the piece in the manner your described or should I put the leaf, debris and all in the black plastic? I haven't misted it since I uncovered it. Is there an outside time limit when you can cure using your method? I really appreciate all the help you and others so willingly give to beginners like me. Thank you.

An afterthought -- so you have an album anywhere on the web where we might see some of your work?
butterflybush
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The curing process is "interupted" by drying it out, and it should never dry out until it has cured. I found it doesn't hurt anything to leave the leaf where it is while it is curing. After keeping it in a damp bag for 3 or four days, I have actually thrown the leaves into a kiddy pool for another week or two. With the leaves still on them. Once your concrete leaf is cured and very hard, you can actually use the pressure from a hose to help you remove the remnants of the leaf, and it actually gets easier when the leaf has decomposed some. Removing it too soon can damage uncured concrete. Good luck. BB
tango88
Original Author
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Fleur --- Take a lok at the post titled "Mercer Arboretum Faux Bois Post"...it has a link to an album page with a variety of things in different stages of development.

Long Winded Dissertation on Heat, Curing, Beauty & Life

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Long Winded Dissertation on Heat, Curing, Beauty & Life

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