Plaster mixing made easy

Learning how to mix plaster is easy and relatively clean process as long as you know what your doing, and set up an efficient workspace.  The process described in this post is for plaster that is going to be used in mold making and plaster casting.  Since molds need a stronger plaster I advise using pottery plaster, or when you get good at mixing you could even use a gypsum cement like Hydrocal.  Hydrocal generally sets up very fast but forms a harder plaster, so if durability is an issue you might want to look into this type of plaster.

Step 1 What you will need

1.plaster (can be purchased at most art stores)
2.plastic bucket
3.latex or rubber gloves
4.paper or plastic cup for scooping plaster
5.space that can be cleaned easily (plaster can be messy and hard to clean up so use good judgment and don't do it in your living room) outside or a plaster studio are the best places

Comments

[Ranie-K]

Nice instructions!

I made a lot of plaster molds/positives in a orthopedics corporation, and recommend putting clothes-hanger wire in as reinforcement whenever you're making anything larger than a fist sized object, since plaster is pretty brittle (at least at first). The trick is to wait long enogh for it not to drop to the bottom, but not so long that you have to carve out a groove in the object to fit the wire into.

To make a mold release the plaster easily, coat it with dish cleaning fluid or petroleum jelly before poring.

[andylikesbikes]

Thanks for checking out my instructable!  I never heard of using a clothes hanger as reinforcement but i'll have to try it some time.