Post by matt on Apr 21, 2020 13:47:05 GMT
OK - bit of a disaster in some ways, but encouraging enough that I'll persist until I get it right 
Lucky I've got about a year to get it sussed.
Probably let impatience get the better of me, and demolded at 24 hours which might have been too soon. I think the main issue though was that the shape around the front hole wasn't smooth/tapered enough to let the concrete out. After it broke when trying to remove the whole thing, it still took a hell of a hammering to remove the last of it. Anyway, the bit that did come out intact looks great. You can't really see it in the pic, but the front is almost glass smooth with sparkly bits (sand), and the notches for supports etc seemed to work well. I will think again about how to get the front section to release - perhaps also leave for 2-3 days next time:
Lucky I've got about a year to get it sussed.Probably let impatience get the better of me, and demolded at 24 hours which might have been too soon. I think the main issue though was that the shape around the front hole wasn't smooth/tapered enough to let the concrete out. After it broke when trying to remove the whole thing, it still took a hell of a hammering to remove the last of it. Anyway, the bit that did come out intact looks great. You can't really see it in the pic, but the front is almost glass smooth with sparkly bits (sand), and the notches for supports etc seemed to work well. I will think again about how to get the front section to release - perhaps also leave for 2-3 days next time: