I am looking for a supplier of a variety of colors of cement
pigment. I have tried some cement in my jewelry and would like to
color it. Any and sources that anyone has would be great.
Thanks, April Ottey
I am looking for a supplier of a variety of colors of cement pigment. I have tried some cement in my jewelry and would like to color it. Any and sources that anyone has would be great.
There are lots of different pigments, both liquid and powder to color
concrete. There are also stains, but some of those can be pretty
caustic. You can also stain with water-based pigments you find in
your local paint store, although they do need to be sealed with a
good acrylic polymer. Check for concrete pigments at a hardware
store, a concrete supplier or a cement factory.
April,
Have you tried the grout coloring that can be bought in the building
supply stores?
Linda
April;,
You can go to most any hardware store (Home Depot for example) and
find cement pigment. Go into the construction materials area where
the cement/concrete is sold and you will find 6 or 8 pigments on the
shelf.
Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL where simple
elegance IS fine jewelryk! @coralnut2
Several of the polymer cement modifiers are the latex type (
acrylic). These will lend themself to use of any pigments used for
acrylic paints. Formulas for cement sculpture (search) and small
jewelry pieces include them (I have some of these recipes but will
have to recover them later). You will probably find that you will get
mutter colors because of the base cement color. Search acrylic
pigments and latex concrete. try the easily fond artists pigments.
The pigments used to special blend todays water cleanup household
paint should also work.
jesse
April, I’ve gotten pigments and stains for concrete from QC
Construction Products. I dealt with Fred Lupton, he was very helpful,
however it was quite some time ago so I don’t know if he’s still
there. They are based out of Madera Ca. Ph# 206-282-5719 Web Site:
www.qcconprod.com
Good luck,
Lisa
Lisa Hawthorne
@Lisa_Hawthorne1
I recommend Andrew Goss’ book on working with concrete for jewelry
and small sculpture. An extract here at Ganoksin is at
Info on the book is here
best
Charles
I wanted to add to the discussion about cement pigments:
Integral dyes and pigments for cement are specifically made to
resist the alkalinity of the cement, otherwise they will break down
over time. The cheapest and the most durable are those you commonly
see in coloured concrete blocks: black (grey), brown, brick red,
yellow ochre. These are usually iron oxides. Green and blue are more
expensive and often not as vibrant. Sources of supply: building
centres, masonry supply outlets, sculpture supply outlets.
You can obtain the truest and brightest colours if you use white
Portland cement in the mix rather than the common grey cement. The
colour of the aggregate (sand, stonedust etc.) will also affect the
final colour. As a general rule, do not use more than 10 per cent
pigment powder compared to the weight of the cement or the final
concrete will be weakened. A good chart of the available colour range
is at: http://www.solomoncolors.com/concreteclrs.htm
You can also use acid stains on the surface of the set concrete, but
the colours are not as deep as integral colours. The acid etches the
surface and the pigment stays in the recessed areas.
I have also had success with opaque exterior latex stains, painting
them on the surface, then rubbing the excess off while it’s still
wet. This works well on sculpture, but I suspect it would not wear
well on jewellery worn next to the skin.
Andrew Goss
Integral dyes and pigments for cement are specifically made to resist the alkalinity of the cement, otherwise they will break down over time.
This made me think-- if you are using quite small quantities of
cement, you can color it with powdered enamel, which comes in every
color and should not break down. The quantity thing is only because
enamel is expensive… a good way to use up contaminated colors?
–Noel