Color Cement Handicraft

by Pedro J. Lemos; Reta A. Lemos

IN MIXING SAND AND CEMENT it should be remembered that they should be mixed together thoroughly while dry before any water is added. After the cement has been poured into the form, if it is to be used for floor or wall purposes, four small squares of cardboard should be pressed into the exposed cement which is the back of the tile. This should be done about fifteen minutes after the cement has been poured, when it is not too soft.

The tile may be removed after it has remained in the form for twenty-four hours. A thin cement mixture of another color may be made and brushed over the tile and the surplus removed, leaving the last color only in the incisions.

AN INTERESTING VARIATION is produced by cutting away the clay or wax between the incisions of the pattern to the depth of one-half inch or less, making a mold of this tile and in turn casting a concrete tile. The result will be a surface with relief section and low spaces, the relief being concrete and rough in texture.

These low spaces are then filled with a colored cement of another color, or neat cement, and brought to the level of the relief surface. Such a tile secures a pattern adaptable to tile walks, or any surface which is subjected to wear, in that the design is not only a thin surface layer, but a thick portion of color that will not disappear with the wearing of the surface layer.

A SIMPLE METHOD OF MAKING TILE MOLDS is to cut a design from a thick piece of cardboard or sections of a design, and glue these in proper position to carry out a design arrangement. These pieces should be cut with tapering sides so as to permit of proper “draught” or releasing conditions when the plaster cast is made for mold purposes.

The pieces of cardboard should remain glued until dried to avoid the moisture of the soft plaster moving the parts around.

WITHOUT THE USE OF COLOR a number of pleasing and varying textures can be secured with plain cement, as the gray color of the cement has an artistic quality, and it is well to become well grounded in the use of cement before combining color with it.

SEVERAL WAYS OF USING PLAIN CEMENT FOR TILES beside those already given are explained in the following descriptions. These are termed Traced Cement, Burnished Cement, Scraped Cement, Concrete Tile, Cement and Concrete Tile, Glazed and Dull Cement Tile, Glazed Relief Line Tile.

THE TRACED CEMENT TILE is made by pouring a half-inch mixture of concrete (one-third cement, two-thirds sand) into a mold made with the usual retaining bars of any desired dimensions. Over this concrete mixture a layer of about one-quarter of an inch of sifted neat cement mixed with water should be placed. At a certain degree of hardness this layer of neat cement will yield to a slight indentation or traced outline. This condition can be tested by touching the edge of the surface with a pencil point to see whether it is too hard or too soft. A good plan is to pour the mixture in the evening and it is generally in right consistency to work upon on the following morning. The surface should be nearly hard but still sensitive to pressure with a point.

HAVING PREPARED THE DESIGN on a piece of paper about the weight of business writing paper, the design is placed on the surface of the tile and kept in the same location while a blunt, soft lead pencil is traced over the pattern, pressing firmly to create a good indented line in the cement surface. The design for this work is best where the pattern is easily expressed in lines or outlined forms. The forms can be increased in strength by rubbing the pencil on the outer edge of the lines to be slightly modeled in separate appearance. When the design has been completely gone over, the tile is placed in water for several days, after which it is dried and a thin coating of color wash (see chapter on Surface Finishes) may be added to it which will further the pattern by coloring the traced lines.