DIY Cement Salt Wells

Hey there! This is my first instructable and I kinda went crazy with the process. There's a lot of steps but they're all important and outlined in detail. I love cooking and wanted to make my own salt well. It was a long process to figure out how to make this little guy so I thought I'd share what I learned! Let me know any ways I can improve (I know I need more pictures I realized this a bit too late) and if you follow any part of this instructable I'd love to hear how it goes. Without further ado... I present the DIY Cement Salt Wells.

For Safety:

• Respirator
• Safety glasses
• Gloves

For the Part:

• 3D printed parts (Part no. 1 and no. 2) OR you can use your own
• Sandpaper #80 - #120 - #220 - #400
• Sealer for 3D printed parts or waterproof coating
• Balloons
• Mold Silicone
• 1/2 inch Plywood to make mold approximately 24 x 12 inches worth
• Screws for plywood
• Pencils
• Cement or Concrete (I used rockite)
• Mixing Cups
• Stirring sticks
• Water
• Permanent marker
• Scissors

For sealing:

• Non-Toxic Epoxy Resin (I used a product called Pond Armor)
• Brushes
• Rags

Tooling:

• Drill
• Chop Saw
• Clamps
• Weights
• Packing Tape
• Pliers

Whew! That's a lot of stuff to gather. If you're a seasoned DIYer you'll probably have a lot of this stuff lying around. If you don't have everything you might still be able to make it work though who knows.

Materials needed:

• Respirator
• 3D printed parts no. 1 and no. 2
• Sandpaper

• Sealer (I used primer and then Plastidip but you can use any 3D print sealer)

This is one of the most important steps in this process. The longer you spend on this step the cleaner your finished salt well will be at the end.

1. Sand starting with the lowest grit you have and hit the outside of the part. Do this in small circular motions to remove the material as evenly as possible.
2. Next, move up to the next higher grit and repeat with all grit levels until smooth.
3. Once you've reached your desired smoothness wipe off the excess dust with a damp rag and let dry.
4. Next, seal your part with either a 3D print sealer or another waterproof coating (I used Plastidip which is a rubberized coating that has a semi-rough finish).
5. Let the part dry/set while you start on the next step.

Materials/Tools Needed:

• Plywood
• Screws
• Wood glue
• Chop Saw (or similar)
• Drill
• Clamps
• Packing tape

Now that the mold parts are ready, it's time to make our mold box. I used plywood lined with masking tape for my mold box but you can use other materials as long as you can make them waterproof and disassemble-able and put back together again.

Layout the parts you need for your mold. Dimensions may vary from part to part but a good rule of thumb is to make it so that the silicone will not be less than 1/4 inch thick when poured into the box around the part.

1. Cut your parts out and measure twice cut once.
2. Assemble your parts. This can be done by using screws and glue or clamps and glue. I used a combination of the two so I could reassemble the box later.
3. The picture above is parts that were clamped and glued that will not be taken apart. Make sure at least one wall (preferably two walls) can be removed to get the silicone mold out.
4. Tape up the inside of the box with packing tape covering the seams and part lines.

If you followed the steps correctly you should have something a bit like the photos.

Materials/Tools needed:

• 3D printed outside piece (part no. 1)
• That wacky mold box you just made
• Scrap plywood from earlier
• Water
• Weights (or a free hand)
• Permanent marker
• Mixing Cup

In this step, you want to use the top of the mold box to create a level surface to suspend the 3D printed part from the top. I used a few pieces of plywood and then relied on the buoyancy (that's how it's spelled right?) to keep the part pressed against the wood. You look confused. The pictures explain it better I promise.

Once you think you have it set up correctly it's time for the mold box water test. To do this

1. Set up your mold box as if you're about to pour silicone
2. Put water in the mold instead (start with less than you think)
3. Place the 3D printed part and the wood to keep it level on the mold box (weights on top)
4. Look for any leaks and mark them for later (I use packing tape once the mold box dries)
5. Once you have the correct amount of water pour it into a mixing cup
6. Get your trusty permanent marker and record the water line in the mixing cup and...

Voila, you now know exactly how much silicone you need woohoo! At this point, if you're anything like me, you'll probably forget to patch those leaks so here's a reminder

Patch those darn leaks... or don't and leak silicone everywhere like a floozy. get it? got it? good.

Materials/Tools Needed:

• Gloves
• Respirator
• Silicone (duh)
• Mixing sticks
• Mixing cup with that little mark on it from the last step
• Gloves
• Weights
• 3D printed, sanded, and sealed (part no.1)
• That mold box that you've been spending a lot of time with

At this point, I switched out the plywood for pencils because it would be easier to pour around them. You'll be ok if you want to keep using the plywood from the last step but it'll be a bit harder.

Alright, this step is easy to screw up (trust me I know). So follow these steps and you will be luckier than I.

1. Get the mold box set up on a flat surface that you don't mind getting a bit silicone-y.
2. Have the 3D printed part no.1 ready with the wood/pencils needed to keep it level while floating in the silicone
3. Read the Silicone box (or just skim but you wanna find out the Mixing Ratio, Pot life, Cure Time)
   • Mixing ratio refers to how many parts of each to mix
   • Pot life is the amount of time you can spend screwing around before things get too viscous
   • Cure time is the time to cure, crazy right?
4. Pour silicone up to the fill line in your mixing cup (I usually do a bit more to be safe).
5. Mix that silicone for a few minutes as indicated on the package.
6. Pour a bit more than half of your silicone into the mold box.

7. Set up the 3D printed part in/on top of the mold box and lower into the silicone.

8. Place weights on top of the part if needed

9. Pour the rest of the silicone until the mold is filled and but doesn't cover the part (refer to picture)

Whew! that was stressful. Go have some ice cream or something to reward yourself.

Materials/tools needed:

• Mold Box with newly made silicone mold
• Drill

Now that your silicone is cured you can remove everything and see how you did. Let's hope we did it right.

1. Remove weights or anything on top of the mold you can until just Part no.1, the Mold, and the Mold Box are left.
2. Remove 1-2 walls of the mold box (this is why I said making it disassemble-able was important)
3. Remove any tape that you used from the mold box.
4. Wiggle out or lift out (depending on wall removal) the silicone mold.
5. Stretch the silicone and push on the bottom until you can remove Part no. 1.
6. Inspect your silicone mold for any imperfections.
7. Put your silicone mold back into the mold box, screw back up, and await further instruction.

Good job soldier.

Materials/Tools needed

• 3D printed part no. 2
• Scrap plywood
• Balloons
• Scissors

You might be wondering what I'm planning to do with that balloon and you've come to the right step! We're going to make the center part of the part mold super easy to remove from the cement when we're done.

1. Blow up, stretch, and loosen up the balloon for a minute or two.
2. On a table, press the inflated balloon onto the top of our printed part and press down, try and get the balloon all the way to touch the table.
3. Air will escape during this step but don't worry, this is expected.
4. Next, slide the balloon off of the table and hold the part in the balloon (it'll want to jump out but don't let it).
5. Holding the balloon and printed part in your hand pull the top neck of the balloon with your teeth and snip off the narrow part.
6. Then gently shimmy the balloon down until the cut edge pops over the rim of the print.
7. If you did it right the first time congratulations! If not give it another shot you got it this time!

Now that your part is shrouded in a stretchy film that doubles as an imperfection hider and thing that won't stick to cement you're finally ready to finish up the mold. Just two more steps that you've done before

1. Much like in step 5, we have to make the 3D printed part sit level in the mold. I did this by taking two pieces of wood and then running pencils through them at the same height and then cutting another block to get the right height. You can also use plywood but it'll be a bit harder.
2. Do the water test to figure out how much Cement you'll be needing (if you don't know what this is go back to step 5. Do not pass go, do not collect $200).

Materials/Tools needed:

• Cement or concrete
• Water
• Mixing cup (with mark from the last step)
• Mixing Stick
• 3D printed part no.2 with protection
• Mold Box
• Silicone mold in the Mold box
• Weights

Alllriiiigghhhhhty. After this step, you will have a semi-functional final product. Let's get into it.

1. Mix your cement according to packaging and make enough to pass just above the marked line on your mixing cup (some cement will stay in the cup so better to have too much than too little.
2. Pour your cement into the mold.
3. Gently lower your protected 3D printed part no. 2 into the Mold making sure to not let the cement spill.
4. Refer to too much or too little cement sections below if needed.
5. And if all goes well you're ready to sit around and wait, how exciting.

If you poured too much cement and it's spilling everywhere remove part no. 2 and scoop some cement out with a spoon or other object with scooping abilities. Be careful not to scrape the silicone mold surface because this will discolor the cement when it cures.

If you poured too little cement mix some more and halfway remove part no. 2. Pour and then realize you poured too much and refer to "if you poured too much." Repeat as long as needed.

Once you have the correct amount of cement or if you aced it the first time let cure for the time specified on the package

Materials/tools needed:

• The whole shebang from the last step
• Drill
• Pliers

Much like in step 7 we will be taking everything apart.

1. Remove anything from the top of Part no. 2 (which is currently stuck up inside the Cement).
2. Take the slack from the balloon covering Part no. 2 and twist until you can get a firm grip.
3. Wiggle in circles while pulling upward until Part no. 2 breaks free.

At this point, you've either removed Part no. 2 successfully or have broken the balloon and went "oh snap". If you are experiencing the latter allow me to introduce you to my friend the pliers. Find a point on Part no. 2 and yank that sucker free. Now that Part no.2 is History we can move on.

All you gotta do now is disassemble the box like in step 7 and remove the newly made salt well.

Materials/tools needed:

• Respirator
• Your new salt well (woohoo!!)
• Sandpaper
• Patience again

If you're sanding you Need to be wearing a respirator this dust does not get along with your lungs.

If you want to seal this bad boy with epoxy, skip this step and come back to it later. Now to relax and spend some quality time with your new salt well.

1. Surface tension exists so chances are your top rim looks kinda nasty. Sand out those ugly bits until smooth and then decide how smooth you want the rest of your part to be.
2. You can leave it as is or sand until smooth as a baby's you know what. It's all good and up to you.
3. Wipe with a damp cloth to remove any remaining dust

If you're satisfied with the smoothness at this point congratulations you made it to the end. Enjoy your salt well and use it for salt or whatever the heck you want because it's yours now. Thanks for following along!

Oh, you want to know how to make your salt well impervious to the corrosive villain in this story. Well, you've come to the right step.

Materials/tools needed:

• Respirator
• Gloves
• Non-Toxic Epoxy (I used pond armor clear)
• Your salt well (unsanded)
• Foam/Chip brushes
• Rags
• Mixing Cup
• Mixing Stick

In this step, we'll be making it so our porous cement is less porous. You can use normal sealers in this step but this epoxy coating makes it thick, voluptuous, and glossy.

1. Prep your area so you don't get epoxy everywhere.
2. Mix your epoxy in a plastic mixing cup.
3. On the inside, apply in a somewhat thick coat to cover.
4. Let dry.

You can go to the sanding step now and then come back if you want to seal the outside.

1. Follow steps 1 and 2 above.
2. On the outside, apply in a thin coat wiping off excess with a rag.
3. Let dry.

Now you're all finished! Thanks for following along and enjoy your new salt well!