Oslo Trough

28 x 23 x 10H"

After selling the Helsinki troughs as fast as I could make them earlier this fall, I decided that it needed at least one companion design.  The result was the Oslo trough pictured above.  

The hypertufa is cast over a solid core of laminated foam board, which is them covered in stretchwrap to ensure easy release.  After two days of curing, the trough is strong enough to be rolled over and worked with a wire brush, hammer, and scraper.  Each trough is similarly shaped but has a unique surface.

The Helsinki trough (left) and Oslo trough (right).

Sisters seen from above

I cast around 15 troughs in November, about half of them Helsinkis and Oslos.  The weather was cool, perfect for casting hypertufa.  To avoid freezing, any trough cast after mid-November got sealed in plastic and left to cure for at least thirty days in the stable temperature of the basement.  I write the date of casting on the outside of the plastic and wait for a month like some insane baker for my troughs to finish.  The picture above is the bottom of my driveway.  

Let it snow.  I've got a jump on spring.