How to Use Kintsugi to Repair a Broken Dish

You have a short amount of time to work with the thickened epoxy after dispensing it, so it’s helpful to cover your work surface to protect it and have your materials on hand before you begin.

You’ll also want to lay out and arrange your broken pieces.

Clean the broken edges by wiping with a clean, lint-free cotton rag wetted with denatured alcohol.

Remove the cap from the Thixo Fast Cure cartridge and attach the mixing nozzle.

Using a standard caulking gun, dispense the first 3"-4” bead of Thixo Fast Cure as waste, until both components are coming out evenly. DO NOT USE THIS MATERIAL FOR YOUR PROJECT.

Next, dispense a small amount (10-20ml) of Thixo Fast Cure into one of the 50ml beakers. Once the epoxy is dispensed, you have approximately 10 minutes of working time.

During your project, you can dispense more, as needed.

IMPORTANT: Do not attempt to clean or reuse mixing tips. Let the epoxy cure in the tip while still on the cartridge. The next time you use the epoxy, attach a new tip.

Add a small amount of the gold mica powder pigment, and use the plastic mixing stick to mix the powder into the Thixo Fast Cure.

Stir until the color tone is even. If desired, add more pigment until you achieve the color tone you want.

Remove the plunger from one of the epoxy syringes.

Use a mixing stick to scoop the gold pigmented epoxy into the syringe.

Slowly insert the plunger until the epoxy moves down to the tip.

IMPORTANT: A smaller bead will be cleaner to work with, but if you want to increase the size of the bead, trim the tip of the syringe to the desired width.

Squeeze a thin bead of epoxy onto each of these larger broken pieces.

Hold the pieces together for approximately 20-30 seconds.

After gluing the larger pieces into one section, do the same for the smaller pieces, gluing them into one larger section.

Fold the tape in half to expose the two broken sides. Apply epoxy to both broken edges and slowly fold back together.

Let the small pieces dry in place on the tape. Glue all sections together to form the whole.

Before the epoxy has cured, remove excess epoxy with one of the plastic mixing sticks.

You can then use a clean cotton rag to carefully remove any finer residual epoxy from glue joints. This will give you a very thin line of gold that will be less noticeable than a raised line.

Before you start this project, we recommend the following:

Take a look at the SDS (safety data sheets) for each product, paying special attention to the safety information in Section 8: Exposure Controls/Personal Protection.

Gather the proper PPE (personal protective equipment) recommended by the manufacturers, such as suitable gloves and proper protection for skin, lungs, eyes and clothing.

Ensure your work area is well ventilated.