Cast Stone?

Greetings, How does 'cast stone', which presents itself as a distinct product, differ from concrete? Much Obliged, Ethan

[It's basically the same thing. 'Cast stone' isn't a proprietary term, but some sculptors think it sounds better for marketing purposes. If you mix it right, however, it can be ground and polished. If you want to do this, use marble chips (available in various grades and colors) instead of hard rocks and sand. White Portland cement, while more expensive, will yield better colors. See the Douglas and Sturgess catalogue for more info and supplies: www.artstuf.com ]

Andrew Werby

Ethan,

Are you speaking of present day 'cast stone', or the cast stone that we see embellishing the older buildings??

The cast stone procedure that I am familiar with is produced with sand and cement, mixed very dry (just enough water to clump the two ingredients together), then placed in the mold, followed by tamping.

I don't know how they produce these days.

Later,

Take a look at http://www.archicast.com/Concrete-page.html If it's presented as a distinct product, that is protected as 'commercial speech,' aka 'puffery.' Also we follow the guidelines of the Cast Stone Institute.

I suppose, that if there is a Cast Stone Institute, there must be something which has come to be recognized by at least a segment of the population as 'Cast Stone', What guidelines has the Institute set for cast stone, and why was there felt a need to establish such a body?

Ethan Gross

Cast stone is certainly a marketing effort, it certainly is concrete. It really means concrete of a high grade, where the components are chosen for their appearance as well as strength, and the design and moldmaking capitalize on the desire to do beautiful work. Regular concrete is usually stronger than building stone, as it can contain rebar and has no internal cleavage. Orn. concrete uses mostly white cement, which costs far more than the grey. Ours contains 8 or so sacks per cu. yd. where good regular concrete has 6 sacks. [One 94-lb. sack = one cubic ft. One yard = 27 cu ft.] The Institute promotes good practices and slender tolerances. They will send you a book of approved design solutions and a video tape of well-done projects. (They hope you are an architect or builder.)

Cast stone is concrete cast into molds to make it look like stone.

Cast stone is concrete cast into molds to make it look like stone. www.rtvmoldmaking.com