The Islands of the Fraternal Order of Moai

Some of you own a vintage jade green Chinese breezeway tile.

How big are they?

I think they are glazed clay, yes?

The Duchess and I are looking into what we would need to do to create and fire some of our own, so I'm curious about their specs.

Are there 3D Meshes for such things out there already?

I think they're maybe 12' x 12". Maybe +/- an inch or two.

This is just me thinking out loud, if you can find a singular jade tile, or borrow one, I wonder if you could make a casting of it, to make a mold. I guess you could make it with some sort of cementitious material, but that would be heavy. There are lightweight resins out there, while not authentic, they could be finished to look like fired clay.

There are some tiki jewelry makers, who sell small jade tile earrings and necklaces. I own some. The tile is made from laser cut wood, then painted.

Another option may be 3D printing. This etsy seller has renderings for sale.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/822585636/ ... y-tile-stl

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Poop jokes are always funny.

A jade shaded resin would be awesome.

I might be a bit old school with this thought:

Get a photo of one and print it to the size you want. Glue to a piece of masonite or luan and cut a template with a fret/coping saw. Then router some out of MDF and paint them.

Another way would be to glue the photo to the MDF and make a positive pattern, then make a mold for whatever process suits your fancy. Fiberglass with a green opal gelcoat would be fun then run some LEDs inside. You can't have enough of these new fangled green light emitting diodes.

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Set a course for the Foc's'le Lounge!

Excrementus Cadaemus

For you Fellows with a map of the Motu Nui archipelago, definitely check out KahunaCP's work in the mold-making dep't.

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Awesome, thanks! We just purchased a 3D printer and are about to begin our bumpy journey.



Sounds like fun!

The long term goal for our present project, I think, will be to add an actual breezeway to our house. So they'd live outside permanently in the elements.

Fun versions for inside could be fun too!


Thanks muchly! I hope to one day share that with the Duchess

Mahalo, all!

I literally just measured ours the other night.. 12" X 12"

We have a breeze block screen in our front courtyard...I would love to be able to 3-D print those for projects too...

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The Creative Adult is the Child Who Survived...

I have authentic tiles from China and they are HEAVY which makes them difficult to hang. They are about 5 pounds each.

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RumMum
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Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful!
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The Retro Renovation blog, is probably your best source on how to find breeze blocks (https://retrorenovation.com/2010/04/26/ ... en-blocks/). You may be in luck. I believe there is a company in Orlando, that still sells them, but have a limited selection. I have a neighbor in Atlanta, who bought a pallet of them, and paid a pretty penny, to have them shipped for a major house project. I've also seen breeze block molds for sale on eBay, but it would take multiple molds and a lot of labor to make them.

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Poop jokes are always funny.

I think that's what we're signing up for. We have a kiln, a 3D printer is on the way that I hope to make our own molds with, so I reckon we'll just slowly collect the skills to do this.

When we have palettes of our own, the project will commence! Months and months out, I presume.

I actually found the manufacturer of our breeze blocks from our 1957 home. They are a local company and still have all their original molds. I need to swing by and take a look at them... I was surprised to find someone still making these.
The Florida version is not a rough cinder block style, but a smooth clean concrete...smooth like plaster. South Florida has lots of these and very complex beautiful patterns. I have often wondered why they are not marketing them especially with the renewed interest in Mid century architecture and design...

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The Creative Adult is the Child Who Survived...

Probably because they're a pain to make. Many years ago, I worked for a concrete manufacturer doing product development. The owners are quite wealthy, and have multiple homes, including one somewhere in the Caribbean. Apparently, this home had a breeze block wall, that was starting to crumble. So they reached out to my department to make more breeze blocks. A mold was made out of plywood, and the main product development guy tried multiple times to make a block. Demolding them is a bitch, given the intricacies of the pattern. It's also probably a lost art on making such things.

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Poop jokes are always funny.

Paging Mr. Dollar. Johnny Dollar to the white courtesy telephone please.

J$ has flamingo molds and knowledges of such concrete casting matters.

I tends to be difficult to reproduce an item with the same material, fit and finish as a factory production item without similar equipment. Gearing up to make custom blocks at home would be a chore. Even with 5 molds, you'd be pushing a month to make enough blocks for a 20 foot wall. Meanwhile, you could use a router template and make PVC panels in a weekend.

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Set a course for the Foc's'le Lounge!

Excrementus Cadaemus

...so many wonderful ideas!

I wonder if you could make a translucent jade block/tile with epoxy/resin.

I imagine it would hate the constant exposure to sunlight though.

I took a closer look and was surprised to notice the Golden Girls house also had the Chinese Green garden tiles in the courtyard wall.

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The Creative Adult is the Child Who Survived...