A rectangular basket - mold on the inside - cut away the basket once mud has set up enough........just one idea.

Line any old plastic bowl with a thin plastic bag; cleaner bags work great! have the tufa kinda thick but not to dry, do the bottom first then work your way to the top. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Your tufa piece should be ready to remove in 24-36 hours (it usually depends on the humidity). Cheap plastic molds of of this type can be found..well any place. -Wendy

For this small trough, I used one of those cheapie rectangular plastic storage bins I picked up at WalMart. A cat litter tray also makes a nice trough. Just use one or two garbage bags to wrap your mold. Line the center, if you want an inside mold and the outside if you want an outside mold. For legs, I just turn it upside down after it dries, roll four small balls of mud and place them on each corner. Let dry and turn over. You'll love the look.

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another idea for a trough mold is to use plastic covered and taped sturdy cardboard boxes-a smaller one inside a larger one, you may need heavy support on the outsides if it's on the large side to keep the box from bulging, on the other hand this adds to an aged look on the trough.