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Repairing Cracked Clay Before Firing There are many reasons that cracks develop in the clay, but whatever your situation happens to be repair will at least give you a clean slate. The following are reliable ways to fill in a crack using different methods and materials.
Scoring and Filling Method
If You Need To Fix A Crack, Score The Area Around the larger than the area that is actually cracked. This is important because it ‘deletes’ the clay from remembering that crack. Then put a little soft clay in the scored area and compress it with your rib tool, really compacting that extra bit of wet slab to ensure you have a seamless transition. This tends to work well for most cases, especially if the clay is still in its leather-hard form23
Use of Paper Clay Slip
Paper Clay Slip Small cracks can be filled with a paper clay slip. Add ground up toilet paper to your clay body slip and mix a thick slurry Scratch the crack, add a little water if needed and shovel slip back into the cracks. This has dual benefits: filling up of the crack & also gives some movement during drying process34.
Vinegar and Sugar Techniques
Vinegar can be used to increase adhesion when repairing cracks. Be sure to clean both sides of the crack with vinegar before adding any moisture in order that it may be sealed Issue #11 Joining wet edges complex clay repairs happens when two pieces have been molded and butted against each other. Using dry clay mixed with caster sugar will give you a suitably pliable paste that is excellent at filling larger cracks, and limits shrinkage as it dries around the wire.
This sealing step assures the wood is allowed to dry slowly and evenly ( because it’s wrapped in plastic ), instead of drastically warping while moisture escapes. Doing this will help prevent more cracks from forming while the piece dries23.
So in short, repairing cracked clay involves delicate preparation of both the damaged area and any restoratives substance used. The score, paper clay slip and additives of vinegar or sugar have been found to help the repair success level significantly.
