Here is a video showing application of kintsugi brass.
Monthly Archives: February 2016
Materials in Kintsugi, aluminium
Aluminium is also used in kintsugi. The grind of what I have is fine and since aluminium is so light it almost immediately becomes airborne when the package is opened.
Materials in Kintsugi, #15 gold and silver
The coarsest metal you can get ‘over the counter’ is #15. You can feel the grains with your fingers. It offers a visually textured finish although the surface of the polished metal is smooth. It is also very durable as the polished layer is so thick.
Materials in Kintsugi, #10 gold and silver
Number 10 silver and gold are very rough and need a lot of filling in of the grains in order to be able to polish them to a smooth surface. As the graded metal numbers get larger the grains of metal get larger and the finished polish shows more visual texture. The texture comes from the lacquer that fills in between the grains of metal. The larger grains also provide a thicker layer of metal that is a lot more durable.
Materials, kintsugi, #5 gold and silver
Number 5 grind is about the coarsest that is usually used in kintsugi. #5 is also the point where you need to switch to a thicker hardening lacquer. You can’t really use regular, high quality lacquer as it is too thin. Using coarser metal than #5 is done sometimes. You will notice if you compare the magnified images of keshifun, #3, and #5 that the grains are getting bigger and the areas between the grains is turning more reddish since they are being filled with lacquer.
The photos show a reddish tint to the gold which is caused by the lacquer.
Materials, Kintsugi, #3 silver and gold
Metals that are ground coarser than the fine grind of keshifun are available in kintsugi. The graded, coarser metals go from #1–#15. #1 is the least coarse, #15 is the coarsest. In kintsugi the most common grades are from #1–#5. These metals require a completely different process to finish than the fine keshifun. The techniques are more akin to makie and require ‘filling’ in or hardening the coarser grains of metal onto the surface and then polishing the surface so it is smooth and shiny. It is easier to imagine sand paper to understand what is necessary. If you imagine #2000 grit sandpaper as a #1 grade and about #240 grit sandpaper as about a #15 grade you can understand how the metal gets coarser as the #1–#15 gets bigger. It isn’t possible to polish the graded metals as is. You need to fill in between the grains of metal with lacquer to first make a smooth surface and then come back in and then sand down both the lacquer and the tops of the metal to make a very tough and durable metal finish. A properly finished surface of graded metal is very durable. The photos show #3 silver in varying states of application, from applied and ‘hardened’,(the spaces between the grains of metal are filled in with lacquer) to finish polished. The coloring that appears in the unpolished samples is from the lacquer that is used to ‘harden’ the metal to the surface.
Materials kintsugi, fine powdered silver, keshifun
There are many types of metal that are used in kintsugi. This post will talk about the most common grind which is a fine powder and is called keshifun or keshi in Japanese.
This is what is mostly seen in pieces that are done with real kintsugi and have real gold or silver applied to them. It doesn’t need to be polished but it will take a burnishing if you want to. It is more durable if it is polished but that also makes it shinier. I prefer it matte so I usually don’t polish it. It also doesn’t need an overcoat of lacquer.
Materials, kintsugi, basic lacquer, kiurushi
There are several types of lacquer you use in kintsugi. I will go through each of them and this post is on the basic lacquer called kiurushi. Kiurushi is used in most of the basic steps of kintsugi. For sticking pieces back together you mix it with flour or rice, to do fill work or to do restorations you use it and mix it with either jinoko or tonoko to make a mixture called sabi. If you are doing a repair such as fixing a blistered glaze you would use this lacquer too. I don’t use wood powder but if you did you would mix it with kiurushi. It comes out of the tube a brown milky color and as it drys it turns black or a very dark brown. It can cause skin rashes but doesn’t seem to do so with everyone. I get rashes but most of the people I have had in workshops have never gotten a rash despite having direct contact with it. Like all real lacquers it requires a damp and warm environment to dry properly, it won’t usually cure in a normal environment.
kiurushi kintsugi after 1 day
Materials in kintsugi, polishing and sanding stones and papers.
There are several steps in kintsugi where you need to either sand down or polish parts of the piece.
The initial use of sanding is after you have either stuck the pieces back together or done any kind of work wherein you have to smooth the seam. You can use either sand paper or specialized whetstone type materials.
Soft whetstones come in the following meshes, #400, #600, #800, #1000, #1500, #2000, #3000.
There is almost no difference between the different meshes as far as appearance goes so I will just put this one photo up.
I use the meshes #400-#600-#800 to do only the roughest work on the seams. I never use them on graded metals as they are too rough and will destroy the metal. If you use any of the soft whetstones on unglazed ceramic or directly on rough sabi you will wear them right out and have very little effect. You should use the rougher meshes to smooth out sabi but don’t expect them to last if the surface is very hard and rough.
I use the meshes #1000-#1500 to do the initial polishing of graded metals. Use #1000 delicately since it can rip the metal off the lacquer. The #1500 will shine graded metal to your final state. After that you need to use #2000-#3000 to polish away the scratches from the #1500 and get to almost your final shine.
Note that polishing metal is only for graded metal, not for fine powder. If you polish fine metal it will come right off and you will ruin it.