Category: Material and Tool Information
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How To Select A Jigsaw For Making Mosaic Backers
Tools Are Cheaper Than Craft Supplies I have often made the claim that a person could buy a sheet of cabinet-grade plywood and a jigsaw for less than what the craft suppliers charge for shaped mosaic backers such as hearts and stars and things like that. While this might be an exaggeration for an individual…
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How To Make Custom Shapes For Mosaic Backers
Rectangular backers are fine for most mosaic designs, but sometimes you want to make an irregularly-shaped mosaic or a mosaic with a custom shape, such as the silhouette of a common object: tree, automobile, flower, turtle, etc. How you make such a backer and what materials you use depends on whether or not the mosaic…
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How To Use Found Objects In Mosaic Art
Making and grouting a mosaic from ordinary flat tile is relatively straight forward. However, adding three-dimensional objects such as porcelain figurines or even simple rounded stones can complicate the grouting process. Instead of using a grout float or damp sponge to wipe away the excess grout, you may need to use a gloved hand as…
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How To Use China Plates For Mosaic Tile
Recently someone emailed me about how to estimate how many plates would be needed for a medium-sized mosaic of several square feet. Each type of plate is different in terms of how many useable tiles it will produce due to how round/flat the plate is and how well it cuts. The only way I have…
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Architectural Mosaic Safety Issues
An architectural mosaic can cut someone if sharp edges are left exposed or crush someone if it’s not mounted securely. Even a small mosaic plaque is significantly heavier than a painting or photograph of the same size and should not be hung with light gauge wire or fasteners. Preventing Cuts Would You Glue Razor Blades…
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How To Make Reclaimed Wooden Frames And Mount Indoor Mosaics
Frames That Match The Art If the mosaic is a mixed-media mosaic with rounded and irregular sculptural elements, a frame in the style of a generic photo frame or document frame may look out of place with its uniformity and minimalism and linear perfection. The Merits Of Reclaimed Wood I think reclaimed wood with some…
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Mosaic Holiday Ornament Kit
I have designed a base kit that people can use to make a mosaic holiday ornament, and I plan to sell the base kit at the website. I designed the ornament base relatively quickly due to business demands, but I have spent at least 10 years thinking of how I would design mosaic kits or…
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The Importance Of Repurposed Downcycling In Art Studios
In my previous article about how to cut cement board for use as a mosaic backer, I explained how I didn’t buy carbide-grit jigsaw blades for this because I re-used my worn-out wood blades for this once they became to dull for wood, and that it didn’t matter that cutting the cement board destroyed them…
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How To Cut Cement Board
Two Types Of Cement Board There are two types of cement board: The first type contains wood fibers or wood particles mixed in with the cement. The second type is portland cement between two sheets of fiberglass mesh. The second type is completely water resistant, and that is what we use in our mosaics when…
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How To Store And Reuse Dust Masks
Mixing up grout and thinset require that mosaic artists wear dust masks on an occasional basis. I wear an N95 particulate mask, which is the same one I wear for sawing wood with power tools and many other shop and studio tasks that involve non-oily dust. An N-95 captures 95% of the particles of a…
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How To Color Grout
This article is about coloring grout for mosaic art before the grout is applied. This article isn’t about staining grout for bathroom backsplashes. From what I’ve read, staining bathroom grout doesn’t tend to last but has to be refreshed within a year or two. If I wanted to change gout color, I would remove the…
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How To Build Up Low Areas With Thinset Mortar
Low areas on a surface can be built up with thinset mortar mixed with an additional aggregate of very coarse sand a few days before tile is laid. This should be be done if you want to put a mosaic insert of thin glass tile (1/8 inch) between thicker architectural tiles like 3/8 inch stone…