Curing the Swanne: Concrete Mixes...

  Well, after much intense learning about concrete mixes, I did the bill in black, using 1 part white portland cement to 4 parts aggregate (perlite, 3/4 inch glass strands, white aragonite sand, white silicon sand) & black cement dry pigment, mixed with water & cement bond admixture...

  Then I did the upper surface, in a slightly stronger mix sans the black concrete paint, & I did it in 2 parts white portland cement to the 4 parts aggregate & water & cement bond admixture...

  While this upper surface is curing, I have now strapped the head securely to the neck, so that when I flip the swan over to reinforce the bottom, the head doesn't flail back...I am going to reinforce the bottom in an even stronger cement mixture, since the bottom will be closest to the ground...The bottom will get 3 parts white portland cement to the 4 parts aggregate, plus the water & the cement bond admixture...

  (these are not in order, in fact the Sherri Warner Hunter books would be my first recommendation)...I learned alot about proportions (in deciding on how much cement to use in relation to aggregates) from a free e-book called The Basics of Concrete Science by Prof. Dvorkin(I joined free e-books & found this book there, for free)...I also skimmed Design & Control of Concrete Mixtures by the Portland Cement Association...& of course, Making Concrete Garden Ornaments by Sherri Warner Hunter(I had to join a reading service online to read this book, but it was a one week trial so it ended up only costing me $5.95 to read this digitally), which was really instrumental in understanding mix ratios...

  I also became a member of Sculpture.net to read what other sculptors were doing...One fascinating discovery which led me to hours of reading & learning was how to make "living" rock for aquariums...I watched several videos on how to make living rock for aquariums as well- which wasn't exactly what I was doing, but really gave me a feel for the mixing, molding, experimentation possible- & it also gave me a good understanding of how to be eco-friendly when you use cement in applications near to water & living things...

Cut all my hair off (Sari Grove)

The lady swanne is curing now...(Don't you love the feathery texture?)

  A word about the aggregates I chose:

Perlite: these are white easily crushable glass-like balls that you can get at a garden centre- got mine from Sutton Garden & Building Supply on Finch avenue in Toronto...

White Portland cement in 10 kilogram bag (smaller size): Sutton Garden & Building Supply also carries the white cement in smaller bags, they are the only ones in the whole city who I could find sold this small size!!!

White Silicon Sand: Also from Sutton on Finch...This did not come in a small bag, but they were nice enough to make one up for me on the spot! That is service!

White Aragonite Sand: I got a large bag of aragonite sand from the reptile section of Petsmart at Laird & Eglinton...

3/4 inch glass strands: The only place that had these 3/4 inch glass strands was Kreitmaker, 2 blocks south of the Home Depot at Laird & Eglinton...(They are at the end of the street on the south side & carry stuff for cement work, you can get good gloves there too)...

Black cement Pigment paint dry: Home Depot has this in small yellow jars & it is really awesome, you mix it into your concrete mix & it has a rich deep gorgeous colour...Comes in other colours too- use the whole jar for great effects...

cement Bond Admixture: this is a milky gluey mixture you throw into your mix to make it stickier & more pliable & waterproof...many people carry this, got my last container from Home Hardware Building Centre on Dupont west of Christie...(who also has marble for those interested in throwing marble into their mix- but you will have to hammer crush the marble 'cause it comes in bag in pieces the size of stones- so crush that to make your own marble dust if you are not lazy...me I found this too late- after I had used the aragonite sand instead of marble that I couldn't find...Aragonite sand is calcium carbonate, basically very similar to marble, which is why I chose that...)
  http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3853570.html This is a new mix that I am looking into: it involves white portland cement, marble dust fines & dolomite aggregate- this mix creates a marbly look but with extra strength...(let's see if I can find the marble or the dolomite)...
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marsubstr.htm Here's a little about aggregates...I am substituting Aragonite sand for white marble dust, since they are chemically very similar & I can't source the marble easily...(both are calcium carbonate)...
http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Outdoor-Living/Yard-Maintenance/Soil-Amendment-Stone/Soil/Miscellaneous/LIME-PRILLED-GRANULAR-25LB/_/N-ntln7/R-I5025812 Ok, so, after a little investigating, I discovered that Home Hardware Building centre on Dupont carries prilled superdol dolomite lime- which is actually calcium carbonate plus magnesium...Now I already have calcium carbonate coming from the Aragonite sand, but according to that patent I read (see link above), magnesium adds extra strength to marble/calcium carbonate/aragonite sand...So I could maybe switch up in the future to using the prilled dolomite lime instead of the Aragonite sand, which adds the magnesium...Or I could just add the prilled dolomite lime as a new one part to the aggregate list...? (I can also crush the white marble chips available at that Home Hardware too, to get the marble dust...)Hmmm...All the dolomite suppliers are outside of the city...
  I think I am going to just use up what I have & save this research for next time maybe...I'm tired of researching & Joseph is going to kill me if I start running around again shopping...(only so many shopping sprees can one wife get away with in a period of time & my time is not yet really enough...)