Feb 26th, '17, 00:14
Posts: 3
Joined: Aug 18th, '15, 00:52

Re: Broken Yixing lids

by aeris311 » Feb 26th, '17, 00:14

victoria3 wrote:
aeris311 wrote:
JB-ONE wrote:I have a couple of broken lids. One is an EOT 90s Factory 1 and the other (the first pic) I'm not sure. Had it for more than a few years. The clay is the same color on the inside and out, but on the Factory 1, the clay inside is darker. Wondering if the 90s F1 is zisha coated with hongni or if it's just the firing.
I dropped the lid to my first jian shui pot as I was taking it to the kitchen to begin it's clean & seasoning. It was a pretty clean break like yours. I used Dap 00688 silicone adhesive to repair it.

The visibility of the repair on the polished side depends on the lighting, if under soft indoor lighting it takes some scrutiny to notice. If you shine a cell phone flashlight at it, the seam stands out quite a bit lol. The seam is evident on the underside, so that's probably what could be expected from yixing.

BUT... The repair is standing up fantastically. I use it regularly for sheng. And as I said I hadn't even cleaned or seasoned it when I broke it; so after curing for 24 hrs or so it started off by surviving a good boiling, and a soak in a pot of hot puerh after that.
Curious, are you pouring near boiling water over pot regularly while steeping? and flash cleaning it also with near boiling water? Good to hear it has worked for you this long. I wonder if this silicone is the same type used in modern stovetop spatulas, which is supposedly non-toxic?
Sorry, i meant to respond to this sooner but my cell phone failed when i tried to post a few weeks ago & i forgot to come back to it.

Yes and yes to your first two questions. I pour my water in the pot, put the lid on, & then pour water over it when i'm steeping. And i clean it with boiled water when done with the leaves.

I'm not sure if the DAP is the exact same type as silicone cookware... I had read somewhere that it's foodsafe so that's why I picked it up; don't know where now. But it is currently advertised as nontoxic & safe for aquarium repair--good enough sign for me considering how sensitive fish are.

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Feb 26th, '17, 01:13
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Re: Broken Yixing lids

by tingjunkie » Feb 26th, '17, 01:13

I think the winging about the toxicity of JB-Weld is bordering on fanatical. Let's apply some logic here:
1) Once cured, the epoxy is non-toxic.

2) It has a temperature rating up around 500F or so from what I remember. That means the 212F that water boils at is 300 degrees away from causing the epoxy to melt or deform. I have literally boiled JB-Weld-repaird pots directly in a pot of water for 1-2 hours, and it showed no signs of failing or softening.

3) The amount of epoxy ultimately used to put a very thin bead on both of the broken surfaces would have to amount to what... 1/20th of a teaspoon perhaps? If that? Now, let's remember that whatever tiny amount of epoxy is used to repair a lid or pot, the vast majority of it will be on the inside surface of the repair, sandwiched together where it will never see the light of day ever again, or be available to interact with the tea. The teeeeeeeeeny tiiiiiiny thin bead of epoxy that IS actually exposed to the tea must amount to what... 1/200th of a teaspoon? Less than 1/4 of a milliliter I would guess.

4) So, even if we ignore points 1 and 2 above, and we assumed that the minuscule amount of epoxy that will contact the tea will slowly leach chemicals in to the tea over the course of years, is that really a problem in such infinitesimally small doses? I'd eat half a ml of uncured JB Weld right now all in one dose, just to prove a point, and not lose any sleep over it.

Sorry if I sound snarky here, but seriously guys... get a grip. I'm the first to admit kintsugi looks way better, but good luck finding a pro to do the work, and enjoy the price tag it will cost.

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