Using Gold To Repair Ceramics

The glazed coating presents a problem though.

Using gold to repair ceramics.

Rather than rejoin ceramic pieces with a camouflaged adhesive the kintsugi technique employs a special tree sap lacquer dusted with powdered gold silver or platinum. Although kintsugi repair makes it appear as though the original piece was mended with gold the original process is essentially a form of lacquer art. The translation from japanese of kintsugi or kintsukuroi means golden joinery or repair with gold where the gold powder is applied on lacquer. Japanese kintsukuroi chawan.

Paint cannot stick to smooth glazed coating. Some four or five centuries ago in japan a lavish technique emerged for repairing broken ceramics. The gold join may seem too obvious compared to almost invisible western repairs. If you are using mica powder mix equal parts mica powder and epoxy resin on scrap paper.

Ceramic materials boast high surface energy and wet easily. After mixing you have 3 minutes at most after which the adhesive shall have dried. However there are some fair. Once completed beautiful seams of gold glint in the conspicuous cracks of ceramic wares giving a one of a kind appearance to each repaired piece.

Ceramic glazes preserve your pottery and tile s coloring and also adds a layer of protection from small scratches. This tradition known as kintsugi meaning golden seams or kintsukuroi golden repair is still going strong. Artisans began using lacquer and gold pigment to put shattered vessels back together. Kintsugi is the japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold a metaphor for embracing your flaws and imperfections.

As time goes on however you may need to repaint your ceramics to return them to their original luster. Glue your ceramics together. Even so you should clean and degrease the surface and use emery paper or sandblasting to do mechanical abrasion of the surface. The meaning of kintsugi kintsukuroi gold repair art.

This technique transforms broken ceramic or pottery into beautiful art to it s its new life enhancing the break lines with gold giving the mended broken pottery. Of repairing ceramics with lacquer and gold is called gold lacquer repair. This is a traditional japanese technique of repairing ceramics. Do this right before you are ready to glue the objects together as this mixture cures quickly.

Kintsugi 金継ぎ golden joinery also known as kintsukuroi 金繕い golden repair is the japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold silver or platinum a method similar to the maki e technique. Save the liquid gold leaf for step 4. If you are using liquid gold leaf you will only need the epoxy resin for step 3. You won t realize your full potential until you go.

Mix the epoxy or super glue if it requires mixing.