Made a stone from Maximizer

[ClayEdgin]

I've heard that you get more coverage for less concrete by using Maximizer, and I wanted a lighter stone but still wanted to use my 21" Slater mold, so I bought a few 80lb bags and poured it into the mold on Saturday. Like my other stone, I used about 3 parts Maximizer to 1 part portland cement. The portland I have is just white powder and no aggregate so I'm using it as a filler and to lighten the color of the stone.

The first thing I noticed is that there is a lot more aggregate in this stuff than in regular Quikrete, or at least it seemed like it. It mixed up nicely and poured with no problem. With my other 21" ball that came out to about 350lbs, I used four 80lb bags of regular Quikrete and a half a 94lb bag of portland cement approximately. With this Maximizer stuff, I used 2 and a half 80lb bags and maybe a third of a bag of portland.

The final result was that the Maximizer stone came out to 290lbs, 60 pounds less than the pure Quikrete stone. And the Maximizer boasts a strength rating of 5500PSI whereas the regular Quikrete is 4000PSI. I short pieces of rebar for strength that I had bent in a previous workout to hopefully make it a bit stronger.

When I took the ball out of its mold tonight, I noticed how rough the top was, so I took about a half hour and sanded the top of the ball by hand. Here are some before and after pictures. The after pic doesn't really do it justice because the stones that you can see are barely noticeable to the touch and it feels real smooth.

Somehow, the letters "ES" from the "SLATER STONES" stickers on the inside got implanted onto the stone so any more stones will say "SLATER STON" I'm thinking about removing the stickers and making stickers of my with various curse words and such like "Lift me, wussboy!"

By the way, I can't tell you how great it is to be able to NOT have to use plaster anymore and still get a variety of weights of stones. Slater molds are well worth the investment. Securing the mold is easy, and taking the mold apart is too.

[Jesse Marunde]

nice work bro. I love slater molds. awesome!

Jesse

[SBaier]

Amen on Slater Stone Molds! They are great ... I already lost the last S on my new mold - I am planning on doing my own stickers inside to make similar sayings.

Happy pouring Clay!

[Patrick McGuffin]

like your new avatar there shawn

[Ryan Phillips]

yeh shaun, ur looks massive bro! nice work

[CharlesDMickey]

Is Maximizer a type of concrete or a concrete additive? What’s the difference between Portland and Quickcrete? All I have used to date is Quickcrete. If I use other types will I need to add rebar or wire to increase the strength?

I need to find ways to get heavier/lighter stones out of the four molds I have.

Thanks!

[ClayEdgin]

Charles, Maximizer is a type of concrete made by Quikrete. It's similarly priced and mixes just like regular concrete. I'm not sure now it works out to where using this stuff produces more concrete than a regular 80lb bag, although I did notice that these Maximizer bags are bigger than regular 80lb quikrete bags.

[jon hergert]

Is Maximizer a type of concrete or a concrete additive? What’s the difference between Portland and Quickcrete? All I have used to date is Quickcrete. If I use other types will I need to add rebar or wire to increase the strength?

I need to find ways to get heavier/lighter stones out of the four molds I have.

Thanks!

Charles,

I am not sure what maximizer is but it sounds like a concrete additive so that maximizer plus portland cement would make a lightweight concrete. I would guess that maximizer contains some sand, pumice for lightweight, and a small amount of flyash for increased strength.

To date, all I have used is quickcrete 5000. So far it has made nice stones for us. We only have two molds, and 18 and a 20 so we have either been adding some chunk of iron to the center or a 8" styrofoam ball to the center to get different weights. Couple of my crazy training partners want a 400 lb stone so for that one I am either going to have to get a 21" mold or get a ball of lead for the center.

If the maximizer makes a concrete with a 4000 psi strength, you shouldn't need any sort of wire mesh or rebar. If my training partners and I haven't broken a stone yet, reinforcement not necessary. If you add a styrofoam ball to the center, as I am planning on doing but haven't yet, I would recommend a 3/8" rebar 3 bar cross to the center as reinforcement.

[ClayEdgin]

Just a point of clarification for what it's worth, regular quikrete is 4000psi and Maximizer (a type of concrete, not an additive) is 5500psi so it should be stronger than regular quikrete. Still, I like to put rebar in the molds.

[CharlesDMickey]

Thanks!

Looks like I'll try some Maximizer as well as getting some iron.

So is "chunk iron" just scrap? I’m assuming you suspended it by a string to keep it centered while the concrete set up.?.?.

I was thinking of using a styrofoam ball as well. (Though the Maximizer may be a better option) After talking to Steve at the NorCal he used the styrofoam and said it didn’t make that much of a weight difference. Though he said the concrete was very wet and he thinks the balls may have become saturated. He suggested maybe wrapping them in duct tape or mixing the concrete dry.

I was thinking if you use styrofoam balls you will need to drill a small hole in the bottom of the mold and use a string to keep the ball from floating. (but smart guys like you already know that)

How do you guys get an accurate weight on your stones? The wife got upset last time I tried to weigh mine when I broke the bathroom scale....... :LOL:

Jon,

I finally realized I had a PM on the Anvil. Actually I had a few that dated back to over a year ago. Anyway; Sure that would be great. I'll shoot you an e-mail this weekend. Thanks!

[ClayEdgin]

Charles, we have two scales in the house - "mine" and everyone else's. It is understood that I am free to abuse this scale as I see fit since I paid for it :) Walmart has a 400lb bathroom scale for $25 on clearance last time I was there.

[J. Alexander]

Charles, we have two scales in the house - "mine" and everyone else's. It is understood that I am free to abuse this scale as I see fit since I paid for it :) Walmart has a 400lb bathroom scale for $25 on clearance last time I was there.


Hmmmm....I need to go to Walmart soon. I could use one of those.:)


Charles:
I weighed my stones with some 2x4's and 2 300lbs bathroom scales. Make a "+" out of the 2x4's, and set it across the 2 scales. Roll the stone onto the "+" and add the weight on the 2 scales together. I did this 5 times for each stone, then took the average of all 5 weights, and painted that on the stone.

Not the most accurate way, but it got me close, I think.:)

[Scott Porter]

Charles, we have two scales in the house - "mine" and everyone else's. It is understood that I am free to abuse this scale as I see fit since I paid for it :) Walmart has a 400lb bathroom scale for $25 on clearance last time I was there.

Cool, thanks for the info. I was wondering how I would weigh my stones. I use the Slater molds too, but I want to be precise with my weights.