Friday, March 2, 2018

Kintsugi Inspired Plate Repair

Wabi-sabi – the art of finding and embracing the beauty in imperfection.
Kintsugi – the traditional Japanese technique of repairing broken pottery.

Repair a marble cake stand with this Kintsugi-inspired technique.

In our consumer society, it's easy to throw away broken objects and replace them with something shiny and new. 

But Kintsugi allows us to restore usefulness to a broken object and find beauty in its life story, reminding us that nothing is permanent, perfect, or complete. 

With that in mind, I’m going to repair a broken marble cake stand and give it a new life and beauty of its own.

Traditionally, resin lacquer and gold powder are used to repair broken pottery, but in this modern take on the traditional method, I'm using epoxy resin clay instead because its strong adhesive properties will hold up well on heavy marble.

Here's what you'll need to do a repair like this:
Watch the video or scroll down to see the step by step process.





How to do a Kintsugi-inspired Repair

Before you begin, lay out all the pieces to see how they fit together (and whether or not there are any pieces missing).

Tip:EasySculpt is quite sticky when you first mix it so make sure you put on your gloves before you begin. Give them a dusting with talcum powder whenever the clay begins to stick to them but take care not to over-powder them or it will be absorbed into the clay and dry it out.

Measure out equal quantities of Parts A and B. You won’t need very much.
Measure out equal quantities of Parts A and B of EasySculpt.

Mix the two parts together thoroughly, blending them until they uniform in colour.
Mix the EasySculpt until it is thoroughly blended.

Break off a small piece and flatten and lengthen it until it's the same length as the two pieces you want to join together. Press the clay onto one piece and spread it out to thinly and evenly across the break.
Apply the mixed EasySculpt clay to one edge of the broken plate

Align the two pieces and press them together firmly until the excess clay squeezes out.
Push the two broken pieces together until the excess EasySculpt squeezes out.

Scrape away the excess clay on the front as well as the back.
Scrape away any excess EasySculpt that has squeezed out of the plate join.

Run a pointed clay tool through the clay to create a channel which you will fill later. Leave the clay to dry overnight.
Create a channel in the join by running a pointed sculpting tool through the clay.

Next day, mix up another small batch of EasySculpt and press it into the channel to fill the gap. Smooth out the clay and wipe away the excess.
Fill the gap in the seam with more clay and smooth it out.

Whilst the clay is still moist, brush the Pearl Ex onto the clay. Leave it to cure until it has hardened.
Brush the Gold powder onto the clay.

Use the blade to scrape away any excess clay outside the seam. Take care not to scrape away any of the gold from the actual join.
Scrape away any clay overfill with a sharp blade.

Take a cotton bud dipped in methylated spirits and do a final clean up of the edges. Keep rotating the cotton bud so that you are always working with a clean part of the swab. 
Clean up the edges with a cotton bud that has been dipped in methylated spirits.

Leave the completed repair to cure fully before using it.

No doubt this marble cake stand has past tales to tell of fancy afternoon teas and the delicious morsels it once held........ but here's looking to the future and all the sweet and savoury delicacies still to come.

Oh, and one thing to keep in mind: whilst this is a really sturdy repair, food should not come into direct contact with epoxy clay. I’ll be using a doiley between the marble and the food, which will also help prevent grease and oil from absorbing into the marble.

Like this idea? Pin it for later!

Collage of repaired platters using a Kintsugi-inspired technique.

Happy Resining!

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