Making a concrete mould

[supersparky]

I have some of these pavers, suitable for vehicles to drive over, but I don't have enough. I want to make some more but am unsure of the best method to make a re-usable mould. They are about 450mm long 300mm wide and 90mm thick. Has anyone done any mould making before?

[Mrmac1]

Dave
Made by Hanson called Grass Paver I bought them for my yard

Darryl

[supersparky]

Dave
Made by Hanson called Grass Paver I bought them for my yard

Darryl

Darryl, I have had a look at those ones, they are a lot lighter in construction than the ones I have, and they are a different thickness. I want to be able to park the Coaster on them. I already have a bit more than half of what I need.

[T1 Terry]

I want to put those in my front yard as well, you have to put hard packed road base down first though apparently, otherwise they just sink into the ground after heavy rain softens it.
Not only will the mould be a tricky item, how do you add the reinforcing to stop the whole block snapping into small pieces when you drive over it?

[supersparky]

T1 , The ones I have are heavy duty, and have had trucks over them for years. I was planning on using trench mesh with a little modification as reo. I have only ever used steel moulds for stuff like this before but I don't have access to the right gear to make a steel mould any more. I was thinking that I could make a fibreglass or epoxy mould and hoped that one of our members had done something like this before, and could share the experience.

[BruceS]

David I could relate to you in great detail the process to make those 'pavers' but you probably already know?
If it was me I'd contact a plastics 'factory' and see if they will vacuum form several moulds for you.
Basically you sit the paver you have under a sheet of plastic, heat it up and then suck it down over the paver.
You would then fill in the back of it with resin.
Not long after I left school I worked in a factory that did that sort of thing.
I'll chat to my neighbour as he's created quite a few cement & fibreglass moulds over the years.
I guess it's too heavy to send one over?

Vibrating & compacting.
http://www.ccaa.com.au/publications/pdf/Compaction.pdf

[BruceS]

David I had a chat to Leigh next door about making a mould.
He reckons it'd be best out of steel/iron for the best results.
He has made up moulds for making concrete stock troughs & lids for going over the floats in the troughs.
He could do them in plastic or fibreglass but doesn't advise you to go that way.
They won't last with the vibrating & compacting.
He reckon he could make one for around $200 & less for any more. In other words probably $200 for the first & (say) $150 for second one.
That gives you an idea.
He reckon it's very important to have a good taper & be very smooth so the object will drop out without breaking.
I printed out & showed him your photo.
How EXACT a copy would it need to be? You'll only see the 20 raised up bits anyway?

[generdawg]

If these are for the nature strip why not just put down two dual wheel widths? Will you need to get council approval?

I found a place in The ACT that is an AGENT for a UK firm. Their website has a photo of a large truck parked and another with at least two fire trucks on them. Even if they are a different size, you could alternate every other one with theirs to get the support you need.

Covering the whole internal yard would be a great way to eliminate the lawn mowing, but not much fun for Bandit.

[T1 Terry]

There is a very big house up along the Northern Road that runs from Narrellan to Penrith that has a whole fleet of tipper and dog trailer trucks parked on the hill that makes part of hs front lawn. The grass is as green as a golf course, not a tyre mark or wheel rut to be seen, I wonder where he got his concrete blocks from, they certainly do the job.

[BruceS]

That site that Brad mentioned has an interesting way of doing it.
Looks like upside down plastic coffee cups, pour the concrete & then burn out the bottoms of the cups with an oxy torch.