Do you mix your own Venetian?

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FineEarth417

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I've been doing Venetian for a few years, using several different products available here in the states. Because I'm a bit of a rebel I suppose, and I'm cheap, I've been trying to come up with my own mix to accomplish the same thing with lime putty, marble dust, and linseed oil. I haven't had much success. Does anyone mix their own? Is there a secret I'm missing? Thanks!
 
I've not tried it mate. Trawl through the forum though. I remember reading something about this a while back. If you do it though. You need a good quality of lime and I'm told the best comes from italy
 
I seem to remember being told by some one much older and wiser than me many years ago that the more mature your lime putty is the better the end result will be so, on that note how old is the lime putty you are using and have you tried leaving some for say 6 months before attempting your own mix. I also seem to remember reading many years ago that some suppliers of lime putty have stocks that could be up to 10yrs or more old have you tried sourcing more mature putty?
 
I've been doing Venetian for a few years, using several different products available here in the states. Because I'm a bit of a rebel I suppose, and I'm cheap, I've been trying to come up with my own mix to accomplish the same thing with lime putty, marble dust, and linseed oil. I haven't had much success. Does anyone mix their own? Is there a secret I'm missing? Thanks!

There is a lot more to it than that. I've had a dabble myself and although i have manage to create a nice smooth "lime plaster" with my experimentation it is a far cry from something that is as good as mass produced venetian. There is a fair amount of acrylic binders in venetian plaster these days and when advertised as a natural lime venetian plaster it can still contain up to 10 percent acrylic.
 
Firenze has been my go to, but they are crazy expensive. I recently found Vasari, which is pretty much a guy in California mixing it up in a shop. He's super cool, will discuss techniques over the phone, and the product is great.
When I try to mix my own and use similar application methods, I just get peeling and delamination during the burnishing/polishing process.
 
I seem to remember being told by some one much older and wiser than me many years ago that the more mature your lime putty is the better the end result will be so, on that note how old is the lime putty you are using and have you tried leaving some for say 6 months before attempting your own mix. I also seem to remember reading many years ago that some suppliers of lime putty have stocks that could be up to 10yrs or more old have you tried sourcing more mature putty?
I've had that same thought, so I've got some slaking in the back corner of the shop. Pre-mixed lime-putty is hard to get in this part of the country, so it isn't much cheaper than buying Venetian by the times it's all said and done.
 
There is many ways to mix your own venetian polished plasters, as there is many different types of Venetian marble plaster. Also, there is many other types of polished plaster which can be done, depending the background , the aimed effect and if it is for indoor or outdoor.
The quality of the lime, it's maturing time, the quality and composition of the aggregates, and -very important- the composition of the adjuvants (100% natural or not)and the right proportions for all the ingredients will make the difference.
Does your home made venetian plaster peel after burnishing it only ? Or does it flake easily during the carbonation ?
Do you use only lime putty - marble dust- linseed oil ?
 
I've got about 8 buckets of lime in the back corner of my shop also. It's from 2007 so it should be getting slacked out. A Firenze seminar I went to years ago they said that the lime was slacked for 11 years in the ground. Maybe that was to discourage you from making your own. If you've ever heard of Milestone - I use that quite often. A plasterer that I used to know (Passed away some years ago) and a chemist developed it. I use my own recipe, it's pretty much the same as what you are using powdered marble or #70 or #30 silica, lime, cement & liquid Acryl 60 & water. I sift everything to remove all of the small clumps of cement & lime. Apply it like Venitian. And keep a lid on the bucket.
 
ahhh milestone...used to love that stuff....I know Don semi well my self.

replicating milestone is much much simpler then venetian.

milestone powder ( cement either white or gray ) ...mixed with acrylic....and its the acrylic thats the key.......I dont think don sells anymore ....sold out to Rudd and in turn modern masters has it now.

back to the acrylic

I would buy milestone additive ...acrylic...and it was an excellent acrylic, thing that differentiates acrylics is the solids content.....milestone was an excellent acrylic

mix the milestone acrylic ..or any other high solids acrylic with cement...and youve got .....milestone hybridised cement....theres nothin more to it.

will work with acrylc 60 also....but the milestone acrylic worked better.

formulae is ...high solids acrylic + white or gray cement ( depends on the color you want...+ universal tints # 70 or finer sand.....= a thing of beauty.
 
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