Not atomics, Rooster, just TNT 
Still slobbering over the thought …and will await progress pics
Keep an eye peeled.
I’ll post the progress and unveiling after all the walls are formed. I hope it isn’t too disappointing!
K-9 and Rooster will await future postings
Cool project! The mortar needs to be fairly thin – but not too runny. Hard to describe, but you want it thin enough to flow down into the gaps between the rocks, but not so runny that it gets completely under them. That may happen to some extent anyway, of course, but you want to limit it.
If you do have places where the mortar isn’t between the rocks enough, there are ways to fix that later.
Jim,
When I did mine, I poured each wall separately. I left the “rebar” (hardware cloth) long enough to allow it to fasten to a wall on either side.
After I de-molded each wall, I scraped the cement off and let it dry…
Oh yeah, it will look like this when first out of the mold…which is why you want to scrape the cement off the rocks.
a super-form to hold the ends straight while I poured a side. I also added some additional bracing to reduce any flexing. Below, you can see that I have my two finished “ends” and will be pouring the side (at the bottom).
I used a toothbrush to clean the rocks after each pour. You should probably have a used one. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)
Thanks for the help!
Ray: I will no doubt need advice about how to fix too-thick mortar. in your previous writings it appears I should use glue with sprinkled on dry mortar…
Bruce: that is massive! At least compared to what I am doing. Thanks for those pics, helps me anticipate what is to come.
sadly, I need to go to work so this will have to wait for next weekend…
The unwrapping!
I am pretty sure I was too stiff on virtually all of the mortar (maybe all of it as it doesn’t really look like much of it got through the rocks).
Lots of rocks came off:
Here are the walls:
So what do people think? Fixable? Or should I start over?
I am leaning toward starting over. I should check this out where it is supposed to go to see how it looks, etc. That may determine whether I need to redo it just because the size is wrong.
[edited for a typo]
Here is where I am imagining the building to go:
My gut is telling me that I should maybe rethink this and see if I can find a way to build it into a cave in the wall, rather than as a standalone building. Or I could keep the building and stack rocks around it to make it look more like it was built into the mountain a bit more.
Any comments from the august panel of experts?
Rocks are rearranged, wdyt?
Jim Rowson said:
My gut is telling me that I should maybe rethink this and see if I can find a way to build it into a cave in the wall, rather than as a standalone building. Or I could keep the building and stack rocks around it to make it look more like it was built into the mountain a bit more.
Any comments from the august panel of experts?
Since it’s not August yet (I checked my calendar twice as suggested) I would like to request you save my response until Wednesday. However if you peeked before August here is what I think.
“Slap some rafters and a tin roof on it with a very secure door then call it done as it looks good to me”!
It’s a dynamite shack which I know little about in that era however why would they want ALL the dynamite close to the cave? It would need to be accessible and outside away from the cave they are blowing up? Right?
This post has been edited by :Rooster
Jim, Just my 2 cents worth but I think you may be on to something with the rocks stacked up around it. It may be all Hollywood hype but I always heard dynamite was supposed to be kept cool and a rock building built into the rock wall seems like the logical choice. Personally, I think I would try to make the front wall cover the opening in the rocks as if the whole cave was the building.
Just my opinion and your mileage may vary. Keep up the great and educational posts!
Steve
Jim
You could try using un-sanded tile grout as mortar. Mix it up as described on the box and spoon it on each wall using a sponge to work it into the gaps. Since it is made for grouting tile it is relatively easy to use like this.
I originally built this pump house by gluing flat stone pieces onto a basic form made from pink insulation board. Once dry I grouted them. The shinny coating is driveway-cement sealer. When I get around to weathering it will not have the sheen.
Like your building the stones are not smooth or flat so the grout gathers in the low spots. I could have removed all of this with more effort. I will put it down to learning curve as this was my first attempt at this. For those who are curios the stones came from a granite dealer and off-cuts from smoothing pieces to make tombstones. They are about 3/8" to 1/2" thick and 1/2" wide. I cut them to link using tile cutter pliers.
Don’t give up Jim. It is going better than you are giving yourself credit for.
Thanks for the encouragement folks! I think I’ll try the Boomer grout method. Meanwhile I glued on some missing rocks using Goop and have started building a door. I’m going to go with insetting it back into the hill as in the last photo and will see if I can build a level platform for it (mortar plus pressed in stones maybe) and put some other rocks around it to nestle it in there.
Cheers!
After grout, looking better. Thanks Boomer! Anybody want the other 9.999 pounds of grout? This didn’t take much
Lucky you, I tend to mix too runny and always get smooth when I don’t want it!
We all have extra, be careful, experience has taught us, as soon as we get rid of it, we’ll need it.
Of course if you save it … well you’ll always have it.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Got the door on and the roof ready to be attached. Maybe next weekend I can get this in its final spot, tucked away in a rocky nook.
Well done Jim
Why the green roof stack ?(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Very cool Jim.
Very Nice Jim, now you need one setting next to it that looks all blown out
Dennis