"Sculpting" Mortar Recipe -- Cement Clay


Current formula for "sculpting mortar"  --

10 parts sand

6 parts clay dust

2 parts Portland cement

3 parts builder's lime


This mix is light and malleable and has held up well for me

outside. I sometimes add a little joint compound

or asphalt emulsion.

I generally mix the dry ingredients in a cement mixer and store

it in five gallon buckets. I'll mix a few cups at a time with

water. I mix it very damp but clumpy. I'll dip my gloved hand in

water and massage a palm full of the mix,

which becomes wet and  malleable very quickly. 

When I thought of adding clay to an earlier recipe 

I searched for  "powered clay," and local shops 

didn't know what I was

talking about. I found clay dust online sold by the bag at The

Ceramic Shop in Pennsylvania. 

I get builder's lime at a supplier for concrete products.

I cover the work with wet towels and plastic bags to reduce the little hairline cracks that can form as 

mortar dries.

I've been staining some of the work with exterior wood stain with good results. 

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