Plastic Slabs, good idea or not?

weeijk

Hi bonsaifriends,

I was searching for a slab for a little Crassula forest, so I looked for material.
Searching all kind of forums and googleled the internet, I found that most of the slabs, homemade, are from some kind of concrete.

I'm working in a laboratory where we do the quality control of halffabrics for all kind of plastic products. We test the colours of the plastics.

So I thought, why not make them from plastic, as training pots are made of plastic too. Just tried to make some of polypropyleen, a plastic which is often used for f.i. vacuumcleaners, coffeemachines and other household products. (I think you know the Philips Senseo, I check the precoulour)

Today I made some small ones with a rather dark coulour (black/braunish).
In the photo's it looks blue-ish btw.

slab1 weights 421 gram and measures 34x21x1 cm

slab2 weights 141 gram and measures 23x15x0,5 cm

slab3 weights 107 gram and measures 21x13x0,5 cm,
this last slab has a little dept aswell of 0,5 cm

The colours can go in any direction, mabe even different colours on different places, so some blue for water or sandcolour for a path through the woods.

How do ya'all like what I've made sofar?

greatings from the Netherlands for the coming holiday,

Wessel

Attached Images

	slabs1.jpg (38.1 KB, 165 views)
	slabs.jpg (25.6 KB, 102 views)

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rockm

Nice idea and execution of it.

Polystyrene, however, is a very unstable plastic to use for bonsai applications. It breaks down pretty quickly, especially out in the sun. UV rays disintegrate polystyrene quickly. first it fades, then it crumbles. This can take a couple of months to a year. Sooner or later, though, it will crack, crumble or turn to whitish dust.

UV unstabilized plastic isn't the best material for slabs. That's why alternative, lighter wieght material, like automotive filler "Bondo" and "ciment fondue" are used. Straight concrete is too heavy and can crumble without reinforcement too.

weeijk

Correct, further when you want to make a cut or so, it becomes white aswell on edges. (Like when you bend a plastic coffee cup.)

Thats why I will use UV stabilized coloured "masterbatch" (little pieces of plastic with high amount of pigment (40-50% and additives like UV stabs). Normaly the "masterbatch" we make in our plant has sunlight exposure values which are guarantied for 10 years. The "masterbatch" is than mixed with blanc Polypropyleen in an amount of 2-3% and melted. With the melted substance of about 200 degrees C, I create the slab.

This is probably too far down in the material for some, but after all, its my job.

Hope this will clearify some questions,

Wessel

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onlyrey

I like your choice of color, that blue could be the water for land/water plantings; water would look like swirls. Maybe, if sun exposure is a problem for the plastic, you might think of using tropicals instead. In this way

Here is a [link] nice land/water penjing for inspiration:

dracothered

Hi RockM,

This is all true about the plastic, but if there is a UV inhibator in the plastic you wouldn't have the same problem as you stated. Also I think in most cases the slab is going to be covered by the planting material (Soil, Trees and some type of stable rim/ring around the out side edge. Though I think your concerns have a valid point, I think it would work great for indoor Bonsai's. Of course all of these thoughts and opinion are based on a person (Myself) fairly new to the Bonsai art.

I do have one question what is "ciment fondue"?

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johnbonsai

Hi there Weeijk, I have made slabs and customised pots from a recipe by Dan Barton in an old copy of a book by him ISBN 0 85223 742 1 , It uses chicken mesh, glass fibre, cement filler such as exterior polyfilla, course grit, epoxy resin, matt celulose paint. I've made crescent pots and slabs this way. If you can't find the book I think there's a new book out showing how to fabricate rocks for miniature landscapes, good luck!

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zenwarrior

Wessel,


Great idea!! This is actually what I've been looking for. I have not been able to find plastic slabs or trays for landscapes. I think those would work great.

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rockm

"Also I think in most cases the slab is going to be covered by the planting material (Soil, Trees and some type of stable rim/ring around the out side edge."

This makes little difference. If you're fertilizing and watering the trees, that will also take a toll on the styrene. .

This is a re-invention of the wheel that is probably inferior to the wheel it's replacing. There are already adequate, tested alternatives out there. Auto body filler--bondo for you all in the states--is superior in durability and has been used for years for this. It can be colored, textured and modled onto wire frame pretty easily. It can be used outdoors and is lighter than a slab of polystyrene. It's also stronger.

Ciment fondue--which is alumina cement--is also available for this application. I have a couple of slabs made of it and they have worked very well for seven or eight years now.

http://www.btinternet.com/~colinlew...ing/Cement.html

TreeBay

Have you seen slabs used with Jade? Seems like they'd need überdrainage and I don't know if you'd get that in a slab environment. Counterintuitive as it may seem, some shallow containers hold a good deal more moisture because the surface tension forces overcome the gravitational force. Deeper pots drain really well.

I was always amazed that people felt the need to put crushed pottery and stuff in these deep cascade pots. I have even seen it recommended in some articles, and it makes no sense. Deep pots drain like a dream and don't need any of that. A slab planting for Jade, though, would need some serious attention to drainage.

Regards,

Matt

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