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Repairing Cracks In Primitive Fired Pots


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I just came back from the Mid-Atlantic Clay conference in Front Royal, VA, where it never stopped raining.  I participated in the primitive firing workshop and did some pieces in a barrel fire.  4 pieces with the full range from "Oh wow!" to "meh".  The largest piece got some good colors and marks, however, it is seriously cracked to the point where I have to handle it very carefully.  Some portion of the cracks have widened to a a significant extent so that they are visible from a distance.  

 

I would like to keep this piece 1.  as a memento of the experience  2.  I like the pot and the marks.   So I am looking for ideas that will  1.  enhance the cracks to make them part of the decoration, and 2.  Stabilize the pot so it doesn't fall apart.

 

I don't want to do the gold lustre thing...I can't remember what that's called.  But that's kind of the idea.

 

I would appreciate your collective thoughts.

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I use this epoxy putty pc7 or pc11.  one is black and one is white. it dries very slowly but is killer strong.   I use it to attach hangers to the back of wall pieces.  I have heard you can put a stain in the white and get any color you want.  I've used the black to repair raku things and it just looks like more crackling.    rakuku

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Chris, I'm looking for more enhancement than just clear.  Rakuku, epoxy putty with stain sounds awesome.  I got some good red on this pot so I wonder about a red stain.

Anybody tried this? I have tried crimson mason stain on feather raku pots but it turned out disappointingly pinkish.

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Judith, I believe that is what she was referring to, when she talked not wanted to use gold luster to fix it.

 

I would go with the stained epoxy route.  Along those lines, JB Weld makes something called "Quickwood".  As the name implies, it's for patching wood, but as it's more like a putty, and not runny like normal epoxies, it might work better for the vertical surfaces of a pot.  And you'd be able to mix in the stain as well to color it.

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Peter Hayes uses stained epoxy to add a little extra detail to his raku pieces. AFAIR

he applied tape to the outside of the piece first, to give a neat finish.

 

Really posted to say that the colour I remember best was a blue/cyan, which contrasted

well with the raku colours.

 

http://www.pyramidgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/peter-hayes-raku-totem-disc-sculpture.jpg

http://sableandox.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/r/a/raku_bow_front.jpg

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I use assorted glues to fill in deliberate or serendipitous cracks where I then use a variety of other media to enhance the crack...micro dust (glitter), threads, beads, fine gravel, fabric, twine etc. ..whatever suits the piece. 

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