Metals that are ground into rounded, coarse particles are available in kintsugi. The graded, coarser metals go from #1–#15. #1 is the finest, #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 flat grinds of metal called 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. Imagine sand paper to understand what is necessary. If you imagine #2000 grit sandpaper as a #1 grade rounded coarse metal 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.
Category Archives: materials
materials used in kintsugi
Brushes, traditional, lacquer based kintsugi materials
Kintsugi materials, brushes
Brushes are essential to a good final kintsugi look. There are several types of brushes for kintsugi. Most lines a medium to fine brush will suffice. Hairline cracks require a very fine brush. All are natural fiber and handmade in Japan. They should be cleaned with vegetable oil and stored with a very thin coating of oil which needs to be removed before use.
#3 gold and silver traditional, lacquer based kintsugi materials
Metals that are ground into rounded, coarse particles are available in kintsugi. The graded, coarser metals go from #1–#15. #1 is the finest, #15 is the coarsest. In kintsugi the most common grades are from #1–#5. These metals require a completely different process to finish than 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. Imagine sand paper to understand what is necessary. If you imagine #2000 grit sandpaper as a #1 grade rounded coarse metal 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.
Ishiko, traditional, lacquer based kintsugi materials
Kintsugi materials, Ishiko
Ishiko is a type of powdered stone that is mixed with oil to polish graded, marufun metals but not fine, keshifun type powdered metals. It is rougher and cheaper than the other polishing powder, roiromigakiko but won’t give you as fine a polish as roiromigakiko. Ishiko is the 5th. step in the polishing process.
Red lacquer, traditional, lacquer based kintsugi materials
Red lacquer comes in many qualities and is a refined lacquer used as a binding lacquer for metal. The red I sell is triple ball milled.
Red lacquer is a high quality lacquer that can be polished out to a high sheen and dries to a harder, more durable surface than middle lacquers.
Mawata, traditional, lacquer based kintsugi materials
Kintsugi materials, mawata Mawata is a silk based, cotton type material. Regular cotton doesn’t have the natural oils that are necessary to keep it from sticking to the metal. You use it to either apply and spread metal on the lacquer or to slightly buff out metal that is already applied to the piece. A single piece should last a long time. If you make a mistake and get wet lacquer on it then it won’t be usable.
Polishing and sanding stones and papers, traditional, lacquer based kintsugi materials
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. Sand paper is cheaper for the initial stages but as you fine tune your seams it is easier and more precise to use soft whetstones.
Soft whetstones come in the following meshes, #400 #600 #800 #1000 #1500 #2000 and #3000
There is almost no difference between the different meshes as far as appearance goes so I will just put this one photo up. If you have them you have to write on them the mesh as you won’t be able to tell them apart.
I use the meshes #400-#600-#800 to do only the roughest work on the seams. I never use these meshes 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 off and you will ruin it.
Tonoko and jinoko Traditional, lacquer based kintsugi materials
Jinoko and tonoko are 2 types of powdered, clay type materials used in kintsugi.
Jinoko is a powder and is a rougher grain. Tonoko is a mass and is a finer grain.
Tonoko has to be smashed to be used. The material itself is a finer mesh than jinoko although it looks like it is rougher since it comes in rock-like masses.
You use tonoko for making a mix called abura tonoko which is used for polishing graded metals. Graded metals are the rougher grades that start at #1 and go to #15. You can’t use tonoko for polishing the fine gold powder called keshifun. You use jinoko for making a mix called sabi which is used to do restoration work. It is mixed with water first and then lacquer.
There are many ‘recipes’ for sabi. I don’t use set proportions to mix sabi but I have seen suggestions of 2/jinoko to 1/water to 1/lacquer.
You use more jinoko to make your sabi stiffer if you like. That is, if you are doing restoration work you can add more jinoko to the mix and it will be a stiffer mix. If you use tonoko for mixing sabi often it will shrink more and crack requiring an additional applications to fill those cracks.
Kiurushi, basic lacquer, Traditional, lacquer based kintsugi materials
Kiurushi, basic lacquer.
Basic lacquer has many names, one is kiurushi. It is about 60% urushiol, the active ingredient that is responsible for both the skin reaction some people experience and urushiol contains the enzymes that are active in the 25C-38C. optimum is about 25C-29C, temperature band along with at least 75% humidity to form a natural polymer. Lacquer is collected from 10 – 20 year old lacquer trees that are tapped once with part of the process involving cutting down the tree. That is to say, lacquer comes from a tree that is only good for 1 tapping and then cut down, yielding about 200 cc of liquid. Kiurushi is that liquid with the only processing being that it is stirred and slightly heated.
It is possible to only use kiurushi for all the steps of kintsugi excepting advanced metal work.
Below is the general description of basic lacquer.
There are several types of lacquer you use in kintsugi. Basic lacquer is called kiurushi. See here, https://www.kintugi.com/?product=hon-urushi-basic-lacquer-100-grams 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 that often, it is called kokuso, 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.
Kintsugi materials, flour
One of the materials you use in kintsugi is flour. It is used as an additive in a mixture called mugiurushi, mugi = flour, urushi = lacquer. Mugirushi is used as a “glue” to stick things back together. Regular, white wheat flour is what I use. In Japan there is a type called middle gluten which works best for me.