This discussion of Urushi came up in another thread..... that I can't find at the moment...... and in that thread I mentioned that to my knowledge you can't get real Urushi resin shipped from Japan into the United States do to an import restriction.Geekgirl wrote:John, if you know where a person could get their hands on a repair kit, either urushi/gold or silver, or whatever the non-poisonous variety is, I would be indebted. I have a favorite bowl that needs reinforcement for a rather severe cracking I gave it this summer. I'd love to be able to use it again.
A bit later Intuit email-ed a private email to me for a company in Europe that advertises that they now (says "new" on the site) have real Urushi available in tubes. I then contacted that company via email to enquire about them shipping the Urushi into the USA. They did some reaserch for me and said that they could ship it to the US. BINGO!!!!!!
Thanks Intuit!
So if you want real Urushi, you can now get it in the USA by getting it imported from Europe.
Be aware that Urushi resin is more of a skin allergen than Poison Ivy / Poison Sumac!!!!! Lacquer artists in Japan take years to develop an immunity (some never do). You HAVE TO wear appropriate protective gear. The company says regular rubber gloves are enough, and I have seen lacquer artists in Japan actively using them also.
Also be aware that to cure it properly requires controlled humidity for extended periods. And it is not cheap. Uncured and partiallly resin is still an alergen! I wouldn't want to drink out of a bowl that had partially cured resin in contact with liquid!!!!!!
I'll post the web address here in a minute.
OK.... here's the link for the Urushi:
http://www.dick.biz/dick/product/716241/detail.jsf
One source for gold leaf:
http://www.lagoldleaf.com/index.php?cPath=23
best,
...................john