How to repair broken ceramics

How to repair broken ceramic with gold keshi powder

Process　　Stick the pieces, fill cracks, apply lacquer, sprinkle metal powder

    • Day 1： Apply a coat of basic lacquer as foundation, stick the pieces together  with mugi-urushi
    • Day 2： Remove extra mugi-uruhi, fill cracks or gaps with sabi
    • Day 3： Polish sabi, apply a coat of  basic lacquer
    • Day 4： Apply bengara-urushi (red lacquer)
    • Day 5： Polish with water and sand paper, apply tame-uruhi (black lacquer)
    • Day 6： Polish with water and sand paper, apply bengara-urushi, sprinkle metal powder
    • Day 7： Finish

（Day1）

  1. Use masking tape to cover any area that might get dirty during the process.
  2. Cut a piece of #400 sandpaper into a square around 1cm in size, fold it in 3 and polish the chipped area. Apply a layer of basic lacquer to the chipped area with a brush and gently press with a piece of tissue paper to remove extra lacquer.
  3. Make “Mugi-urushi”(flour & lacquer mix, used as an adhesive)
  4. Apply plenty of mugi-uruhi to both side of the broken piece with a toothpick or a spatula so that it squeezes out a little when the pieces are fit together.
  5. You can set the fitted pieces with masking tape or set it in a box with sand.
  6. Set the piece aside to dry for around 2 to 3 weeks.

＊Left over mugi-uruhi can be kept in food wrap.

（Day2）

  1. When the mugi-uruhi is well dried, remove extra mugi-uruhi with a cutter or a carving knife.
  2. Apply sabi over the seam with a toothpick or spatula, let dry.

​（Day3）

  1. After letting the sabi dry for over 24 hours, remove extra sabi with a cutter or a carving knife. To check if the sabi is dried, slightly scratch it with your nails and if white marks are left that means it is dried.
  2. Once you arranged the shape with a cutter, sand down the sabi with #800 sandpaper and water until the surface is smooth.
  3. When the shape is neatly arranged, apply a layer of basic lacquer to the sabi with a brush and gently press with a piece of tissue paper to remove extra lacquer.

​（Day4）

  1. When the basic lacquer is dry, gently polish the surface with water and #800 sand paper.
  2. Apply bengara-urushi with a brush and let dry in a urushi-buro.

​（Day5）

  1. When the bengara-urushi is dried, polish the surface with water and #1500 sand paper.
  2. Avoid discovering the sabi under the lacquer while polishing. Apply tame-urushi with a brush and let it dry.

（Day6）

    1. When the tame-urushi is dried, polish the lacquer surface with water and #1500 sand paper.
    2. After nicely polished, let’s get ready to sprinkle gold keshi powder. Apply bengara-urushi uniformly in a very thin layer.
    3. After applying the thin layer of lacquer, let it sit for 5-30min, when the surface of the lacquer begins to dry, sprinkle the gold keshi powder with the sprinkle brush (ashirai-kebo).

（Day7）

  1. When it is well dried in the urushi-buro, clean the extra gold powder and gently polish with a piece of silk cotton.
  2. Arrange the outline with a toothpick and the process is completed.