Leafy Mosaic table top project - first steps

The 18mm thick Fibre cement Nutec surface is primed with bonding liquid/ key coat. Just waiting for the edge tiles and a few more inserts for the middle. These will match the 4 chairs, which have mosaic seats in the same theme and colours. I will add more posts as I make progress

the leafy inserts and mosaic pieces are laid out on prepared substrate

the centre of the table will have glass mosaic inserts applied with clear silicone

mosaic table- slow progress Stage Three

This third stage is taking forever. The drilling of the holes was messy and time consuming and I am not sure that the end result is worth all the effort. The glass discs were thinner than the ceramic pieces so had to install them carefully with extra silicone.

So at last the design is set, and it is just a matter of gluing the pieces down and filling in the backround with plain glazes in soft complementary colours. Hopefully the next posting will show the table just before grouting. It is taking especially long because each cut piece of tile has to have its edges ground down on a grinding stone.

There is a lot of dust and dirt on the table, so have to clean the surface with a brush first. I tried vacuuming the dust off but my vacuum cleaner sucked some of the pieces up and made funny noises, so I thought better just use the paintbrush...... My hands are aching a bit too, so giving them a rest. I discovered I could make my vacuum cleaner blow the dust off, which was better than sucking the dust up... A few smaller pieces went flying off.....

17: 01/2011 update: I have been very lazy and taking far too long to finish the table, but I made good progress today. I am almost finished glue-ing all the pieces down. I am planning the grouting already. I think dark grout will look great.  I will do the final post on this table project this week. Promise.

Making a mosaic table top Stage 3 and a 1/4

Here is my husband Bruce drilling some holes through the table so that light will shine through the glass drops. The fibre cement board absolutely killed his drill bits so I said I would buy him new ones when I sell this table.

Here is the small hole with the glass drop that will go over it

inside design still a work in progress. Amber glass drops glued down with clear silicone

Table top in progress, stage 2

 working out the design, sometimes takes longer than the actual glueing down part. This is about my 3rd
attempt to design the top.  Keep bumping the edge tiles as well and they need to be strongly glued to the table, so I will walk away for now, while they dry.

this is my husband working on edge tiles for me. New years day- his first day off for a while. shame.

Starting A Mosaic Table top

Starting a Mosaic table top- things I will use: 

The base is made of galvanised hand made metal

The top is made of 20mm thick Fibre cement board, waterproofed/ painted underneath, and primed for tiles on top with keying agent or bonding liquid.
Before painting and priming I used a rasp to round off the edges and then sanded them, so that the edge tiles fitted better.
You can use a pencil to sketch outlines on to the table- the bonding liquid is clear and wont hide them.

Handmade ceramic edge tiles go on first