Yixing Repair... American Style
Posted: Mar 26th, '10, 19:17
After recently being a schmuck and breaking the knob off of a late 60's Yixing pot, I tried my hand at doing a little DIY teaware repair. To my surprise, the repair worked rather well. To my even greater surprise, my friends were impressed enough with my fix that they asked me to repair some of their pots for them.
So now, I am happy to announce four poor wounded yixing soldiers have now been put back into service. I have been using JB Weld Marine epoxy to glue these pots back together- it's non-toxic, waterproof, safe up to 500 degrees F, and is much stronger than super glue. My only complaint is that the epoxy dries an ugly battleship gray- I'm looking into a clear version now though, so perhaps I'll be switching. Here are some photos of the repairs, but keep in mind that I purposely tried to highlight the cracks with lighting and a macro lens. In person, they aren't as noticeable unless you get real close and squint:
My original attempt a fixing the knob I broke off while trying to enlarge the knob hole- doahhh!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2728/440 ... 70cc_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/440 ... 5e6d_b.jpg
Here are two lovely pots donated to 'Tingjunkie's Yixing Hospital for the Cracked' by my friend Kingston- an 80's Hong Ni Shui Pin, and a 90's Quing Shui Ni reproduction piece.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2685/446 ... f2ba_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/446 ... 64e8_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/446 ... bbd2_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/446 ... 42d5_b.jpg
And my best work yet (if I do say so myself). A Taiwanese pot belonging to a friend whose handle broke off in two pieces. In person, you have to stare real hard to see that this was ever broken at all.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/446 ... aa49_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2741/446 ... 5243_b.jpg
For future repairs, I'm also looking into waterproof, non-toxic gold paint to rub into the cracks for that authentic repair look. Not sure if it exists, but I'll find out.
And since I had my camera out, I decided to take a family photo just for fun.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2693/446 ... 817c_b.jpg
My masters thesis in Yixing repair is sitting on my table now- a thin walled hong ni shui pin that's currently in 9 pieces. I am planning on documenting the process on that one and will post it here for those interested. I estimate the repair will take at least 9 days, so don't look for the "how to" too soon.
So now, I am happy to announce four poor wounded yixing soldiers have now been put back into service. I have been using JB Weld Marine epoxy to glue these pots back together- it's non-toxic, waterproof, safe up to 500 degrees F, and is much stronger than super glue. My only complaint is that the epoxy dries an ugly battleship gray- I'm looking into a clear version now though, so perhaps I'll be switching. Here are some photos of the repairs, but keep in mind that I purposely tried to highlight the cracks with lighting and a macro lens. In person, they aren't as noticeable unless you get real close and squint:
My original attempt a fixing the knob I broke off while trying to enlarge the knob hole- doahhh!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2728/440 ... 70cc_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/440 ... 5e6d_b.jpg
Here are two lovely pots donated to 'Tingjunkie's Yixing Hospital for the Cracked' by my friend Kingston- an 80's Hong Ni Shui Pin, and a 90's Quing Shui Ni reproduction piece.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2685/446 ... f2ba_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/446 ... 64e8_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/446 ... bbd2_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/446 ... 42d5_b.jpg
And my best work yet (if I do say so myself). A Taiwanese pot belonging to a friend whose handle broke off in two pieces. In person, you have to stare real hard to see that this was ever broken at all.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/446 ... aa49_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2741/446 ... 5243_b.jpg
For future repairs, I'm also looking into waterproof, non-toxic gold paint to rub into the cracks for that authentic repair look. Not sure if it exists, but I'll find out.
And since I had my camera out, I decided to take a family photo just for fun.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2693/446 ... 817c_b.jpg
My masters thesis in Yixing repair is sitting on my table now- a thin walled hong ni shui pin that's currently in 9 pieces. I am planning on documenting the process on that one and will post it here for those interested. I estimate the repair will take at least 9 days, so don't look for the "how to" too soon.