Hi,

I came across a "DIY cement planter mold" on Aliexpress, on little use of the search engine, the site showed a huge variety of cement planter molds to choose from. Sorry this is not an ad for them, but I thank AE for the inspiration for this project.

I decided to make a cement planter mold myself, some differences as below

They use silicone for mold for making this many times, I am using sun board which would like one time only
The overall dimensions were small 3.5" x 3.5" x 1.6", may be for smaller succulents or an ash tray, I made mine about 5.75" X 5.75" X 3.5"

I will list down each step in details, If you have queries and suggestions, please leave a comment

Step 1: What Do We Need ?

White Cement 1 Kg
Fine Sand 1 Kg
Sun Board (5mm or ~0.25")
Cutting knife
Pen
Steel measuring scale
Hot Gun gun
Super glue
Transparent tape
Water

Step 2: Outer Box

Cut four pieces of sun board with dimensions- 6" x 4.75"
Cut base of 5.75" x 5.75"
Tape the sides to make a square
We are not going to use super glue for the outer box, which makes it easier to de-mold
Donot attach the base yet

Step 3: Stairs

On the base sheet, leave 1" from one of it's edge and mark 9 dots separated by at 0.25"
Cut few strips of 0.75"
Cut these strips to size on the base sheet, we should have 9 steps
Stack them one over the other to make stairs
For the second Stairs, match the height by placing 9 full length strips( 0.75" X 5")
Leave about 2.75" and then start a new stair of 9 steps, each of 0.25" apart

Tip :

I used Super glue to stick these, instead use tiny amount of hot glue for easy de- molding
Because the strips were cut by Hand, there are few imperfectness. One could make the stairs even, by using some kind of filler

Step 4: Inner Box

The inner box is about 4" x 4" x 3"
Cut it's Base of 4" x 4"
Keeping the margins sun boarding thickness cut the sides 3.75" x 3"
Stick them all together using transparent tape
Use paper tape to fortify sides

Step 5: Mold Assembly

On the base we have already stuck the stairs
Hot glue the inner box without it's top and then hot glue the top
Hot glue the outer box to the base
Use transparent tape to seal any gaps

Tip:

Even after my best efforts, there was a gap of 2 mm in between the stairs and the outer box. this caused issues while de-molding. I recommend first hot glue two side to stairs and then rebuild the outer box

Step 6: Casting

Mix 1: 1 cement and fine sand in a large container
Add enough water to make a semi thick paste
Pour the mixture into the mold
Because of the weight of mixture, there is a bulge on the sides, use paper tape to make it as straight a possible
Leave this to dry for 24 hours
I used about 1 Kg of each Cement and Sand

Step 7: De-molding

This is the most difficult part of the all
Slice the transparent tape, carefully and remove the sides
Remove the base. Since I used super glue, it did not come out well
Since I had gaps in between the stairs and the outer walls, i had to first sand the excess and then slowly pry the stairs
The inner box come out easily, just remove one side at a time and the base or it's top at the last
While de-molding I broke the first step, which I later super glued in place