Superglue and my hands

[annie44]

Well, I have a new appreciation for those who do professional pottery and ceramic restoration. I decided to glue together some of the shards from my dig with Alan, Chris and Doug. This was a difficult task! Right off the bat, I superglued two of my fingers together. This was right before I was supposed to go out to dinner with my family, so I tried to use scissors to separate them, but this only inflicted more damage. Finally got the fingernail polish remover to soften it enough to get them apart. The finished pieces stay together, but the cracks look like they have a space between them - I didn't get them sealed in tight enough. I also realized I should have done a much better job cleaning the pieces, especially the edges, before gluing. It was a learning experience, and I think I would do better next time, but I certainly won't practice on anything that is particularly important!

 

[div2roty]

Superglue is a pain in the donkey. I've found that rather then actually get the items to stick together, supergirl only works if I want to get paper stuck to myself.

 

[tigue710]

A good tip Chris once told me is elmers glue for pottery and ceramics... It holds tight and can be soaked in water to loosen the bond for professional repair or another try down the road. For glass I use hxtal epoxy, it works wonders! Sometimes it makes the break disappear, and I've even had potstones disappear when hxtal was applied in the right envoirment, (secret)! It takes a little while to set but holds without discoloring forever. A little tape and your good to go, it almost sucks the glass together...

 

[JOETHECROW]

For glass I use hxtal epoxy, it works wonders!

Great stuff indeed!

 

[GuntherHess]

you cant be in a hurry with hxtal it takes a LONG time to cure.

 

[tigue710]

It all depends on the mix ratio Matt, and environment. I've had textual cure in four hours... Or three days...

 

[GuntherHess]

You can make it cure faster with heat from a hair dryer but the experts recommend against heating it too much because heat forms micro bubbles which weaken the final product and can make it less transparent. Better to let it take its good old time.