I Thought I Knew HOW To Mix Plaster

[Cacique Caribe]

Growing up with a dentist father who also owned a dental laboratory, I thought I knew everything about mixing plaster, hycrocal, etc.

It turns out that the ORDER of the mix can determine radically different results, even if you start out using the exact same ingredients and proportions.  Check out what I found:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4SwgnbuCDeg

My (now 96-Year old) Dad always told me that the mixing order mattered immensely when it came to gypsum products but, until I saw that simple little video, I had no idea how wise had been his words.

Hope it helps.

[Brandlin]

Not watched the video, but I'm going to guess that the recommendation is "add powder to liquid, never liquid to powder."

That's a fairly well known advice that means you get better dispersal of the powder and helps prevent the formation of lumps.

In some cases it also means that the mixture sets more uniformly and cracks less (because the powder 'gets wet' at a more uniform time rather than the some of it being in lumps and then only broken up and wetted due to long and vigorous agitation / stirring.) This more uniform setting also can lead to a stronger resultant product. Although technically I may mean less brittle rather than stronger.