Tamenuri: Translucent Lacquer over Colour
Tamenuri (溜塗, also written 溜塗り) is a layered finish in which translucent urushi lets the material or colour beneath remain visible. The Japan Kogei Association gives the broad craft definition: highly refined, translucent amber suki-urushi applied so that the wooden body can be seen through the layers. In contemporary fountain-pen use, the usual construction is a solid coloured undercoat covered with translucent amber or darker lacquer. (Japan Kogei Association; Nakaya)
Calling the upper lacquer "clear" is convenient but imprecise. Refined kijiro, suki, or shuai urushi has an amber cast, while kuro-roiro is black yet can remain slightly translucent in a thin film. The lacquer, coat thickness, underlying colour, object shape, curing conditions, polishing, and age all influence the final appearance. This is why two finishes sold under the same tamenuri name may not look alike.
What makes a finish tamenuri?
| Part of the finish | Its function |
|---|---|
| Substrate and ground | Provide a stable, smooth form. Wood may remain visible in a traditional translucent treatment; ebonite and fully grounded objects usually receive an opaque colour system. |
| Colour layer | Supplies the hue that will be seen through the upper coats. It must be even, fully cured, and free of scratches before the translucent layer goes on. |
| Translucent upper layer | Modifies the colour below. Thin areas read brighter; thicker or pooled areas read darker and deeper. |
| Shape | Curves, edges, facets, and recesses change how a liquid coat levels. A cylindrical or faceted pen therefore shows more natural variation than a flat test board. |
| Surface finish | Tamenuri names the optical layer structure. Roiro names a later levelling and polishing process often paired with it, especially on pens. |
| Time | Many translucent urushi finishes become lighter and reveal more of the ground as they age. The freshly finished colour is not necessarily the settled colour. |
Depth comes from film thickness
Tamenuri Studio uses the image of a lake: the bottom is clearer in shallow water and harder to see in deeper water. On the object, the translucent lacquer is visually lighter where the film is thin and darker where it is thick. Surface tension and the form of the object help create this difference. Sanding may refine the cured surface, but it is not the mechanism that makes a finish tamenuri. Aggressive sanding at an edge can simply cut through the translucent coat and damage the colour beneath. (Tamenuri Studio, What is tamenuri?)
Names are useful, but recipes vary
Commercial names usually point to the undercolour, the translucent lacquer, or both. They are not an international recipe standard. Nakaya, for example, defines aka-tamenuri as a vermilion base under transparent amber shuai, while its toki-tame uses a pinkish base. Other workshops may adjust the pigments, top lacquer, number of coats, or even the name. Confirm the actual layer combination when reproducing or buying a finish. (Nakaya finish examples; Tamenuri Studio)
| Name often encountered | Usual visual idea | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Aka-tamenuri | Vermilion or red under amber-brown translucent lacquer | Whether the top is shuai, kijiro, or a studio blend |
| Heki-tame | Blue-green or turquoise under a brown or dark translucent layer | The exact base pigment and how much the cured top coat shifts it toward green |
| Toki-tame | Pinkish undercolour under amber translucent lacquer | Whether the name refers to the ground colour or the final colour impression |
| Kuro-tamenuri | A dark translucent build, sometimes over green or another coloured ground | The workshop's definition; the label alone does not disclose the stack |
Materials and prerequisites
This is an intermediate or advanced finish. Before attempting it on an object, practise brushing, measured curing, wet abrasion, and a flat coloured naka-nuri surface on test pieces. The detailed example below assumes a primed surface or smooth ebonite; a wooden bowl needs the substrate, reinforcement, and ground decisions covered in Chapters 12 through 15.
- A stable prepared object plus test pieces with matching curves and edges
- Raw ki-urushi or seshime for bonding or wiped base coats
- Naka-nuri and compatible pigment for the opaque colour build
- A known translucent finishing lacquer such as kijiro, suki, or shuai; do not substitute by colour name alone
- A clean finishing brush, palette, spatula, and filtered lacquer
- Fine wet abrasives, inspection light, and magnification for the colour layer
- A monitored furo with enough clearance that no wet surface touches a wall, support, or condensation
- Uwazuri and polishing materials if the design calls for a roiro finish
A controlled working sequence
- Write the intended stack. Record the substrate, ground, colour lacquer, translucent lacquer, target finish, and safe dimensions before coating. On a pen, mask threads and mating surfaces and allow for the accumulated film.
- Prove the colours on shaped samples. Apply the complete colour and top-lacquer combination, not a dab of pigment alone. Let the sample cure long enough to show the colour shift.
- Build a stable base. Prepare wood through the appropriate ground system, or key and seal ebonite with thin wiped raw-lacquer coats. Do not ask the colour coats to hide dents or adhesion problems.
- Apply and level the middle coats. Build enough naka-nuri to produce a continuous surface. Let each coat become hard enough to abrade cleanly before flattening it.
- Establish the undercolour. Brush thin pigmented coats until the hue and opacity are even. Colour density belongs here, below the translucent layer.
- Finish the colour layer completely. Remove dust, brush marks, and sanding scratches. Inspect under a raking light and magnification. Anything left at this stage will remain visible through the upper lacquer.
- Apply the translucent coat thinly. Use the lacquer and brush proven on the sample. Cover the object continuously, then let the liquid level without repeated brushing. Protect edges from both excess handling and later over-sanding.
- Cure and assess one coat at a time. Record temperature, relative humidity, and time. Judge translucency, colour shift, hardness, and defects before deciding whether another translucent coat serves the design.
- Choose the stopping point. A sound final brushed surface and a roiro-polished surface are different endpoints. If polishing, allow a conservative cure, level without breaking through, then follow the uwazuri and polishing sequence in Chapter 20.
One published pen schedule, not a universal standard
Tamenuri Studio publishes the following sample method for a primed surface or smooth ebonite. The author explicitly says that each artist adapts the process. Treat the numbers as one coherent system and test them with the actual lacquer in your workshop. Do not mix its coat counts with cure conditions from another method. (Tamenuri Studio, How to start with urushi?)
| Stage | Published build | Published cure target and decision |
|---|---|---|
| Raw-lacquer base | 2–3 wiped ki-urushi coats; optionally 2 additional thin coats, levelled after cure | 85–90% RH; establish adhesion and an even base |
| Middle coats | 1–4 naka-nuri coats, sanded flat and smooth | About 80% RH; the surface need not yet carry the final polish |
| Optional pigmented middle coat | 2 coats of naka-nuri mixed with the intended base colour | About 75% RH; use when the later colour build needs an opaque foundation |
| Colour build | 4–5 coats of pigmented kijiro, gently levelled; the last coat is taken to a scratch-free, uniform surface | 60–70% RH and about 48 hours in this method; the lower humidity is used to limit darkening and brown colour shift |
| Translucent build | 1–3 very thin coats of unpigmented kijiro or another tested translucent urushi | 60–65% RH and about 48–72 hours; inspect translucency and avoid sanding through edges |
| Uwazuri and polish | 4–5 wiped kijomi passes, initially diluted 30–40% and progressively less; polish, then add 2–3 more passes as needed | About 80% RH for the wiped passes; no sanding between them |
| Final cure | Last kijomi pass followed by pure migaki polishing | At least 48–72 hours before polishing in the published method; the maker may leave finished pens in the furo for 1–2 weeks |
The stepped humidity is part of this particular colour-control strategy. It is not evidence that every base coat needs high humidity or every transparent coat needs 60–65% RH. Lacquer grade, water content, oil content, film thickness, temperature, airflow, and pigment all affect cure. Use the readiness tests in Chapter 21 rather than relying on elapsed time alone.
Cure for colour as well as hardness
A tamenuri coat has to harden, but its cure also changes the optical result. In the published schedule above, the maker uses longer cures at lower relative humidity for the coloured and translucent finishing coats because faster, wetter curing can darken the film and push blue toward a muddier green-brown. That observation is specific to the maker's materials and process, but the general lesson travels: record the conditions that produced the desired colour, then repeat them. Do not "rescue" a pale or slow coat by raising humidity without first considering the colour change.
Age adds another variable. Nakaya notes that its translucent top coats become more transparent over time, revealing more of the ground. Photograph the sample and object in neutral light when they are finished, then again after several months. That record is more useful than trying to judge a mature recipe from a newly cured sample. (Nakaya, Tame-sukashi example)
Reading common faults
| What you see | Likely cause | Next check |
|---|---|---|
| Undercolour looks muddy or brown | Translucent coat is too dark or thick, or the chosen cure conditions shifted the lacquer colour | Compare the curved sample, the actual film thickness, and the recorded humidity before adding another coat. |
| Little visible depth | The top film is uniformly thin, the form has little relief, or the colour contrast is too weak | Do not add thickness blindly. Test the full stack on a more representative shape. |
| Bright line or bare patch at an edge | The film levelled thin there, or abrasion cut through it | Inspect before and after sanding. An intentional thin reveal is gradual; a sand-through usually has a sharp boundary. |
| Scratches seem trapped below the gloss | The colour layer was not fully refined before the translucent coat | Stop polishing the top. A buried scratch may require levelling and rebuilding the upper layers. |
| Cloudiness or pale bloom | Condensation, rapid environmental change, incomplete cure, or residue from wet abrasion | Stabilize the furo and use the clouding checks in Chapter 34. |
| Wrinkles, ripples, or a firm skin over soft lacquer | The coat was too thick or its surface set faster than the material below | Do not cover it. Let it harden, diagnose the cure conditions, and level only when the film abrades cleanly. |
| Dust or brush tracks remain visible | Contamination, poor brush loading, or too much correction after the coat began to set | Improve filtering, brush preparation, and the one-pass application before repeating the coat. |
Watch the optical idea and a working coat
The first video explains why thickness and shape create the reveal. The second shows a full studio session applying a tamenuri layer to fountain-pen parts, including brush handling and the practical pace of the work.
Continue from here
- Grades and types distinguishes raw, middle-coat, coloured, translucent, black, and finishing lacquers.
- Naka-nuri covers the flat middle surface on which the undercolour depends.
- Roiro and sanding and polishing cover the refined gloss often seen on tamenuri pens.
- Curing explains temperature, humidity, airflow, film thickness, and readiness tests.
- Pens covers masking, ebonite, dimensional tolerances, and small-part handling.
- Defect diagnosis gives a wider decision table for clouding, wrinkling, dust, and incomplete cure.
- Japan Kogei Association: Urushi work
- Nakaya: Tame-nuri
- Nakaya: Tamenuri finish examples
- Nakaya: Aka-tamenuri and ageing in a Tame-sukashi example
- Tamenuri Studio: What is tamenuri?
- Tamenuri Studio: How to start with urushi?
- Tamenuri Studio: Types of urushi
- Tamenuri Studio: What is tamenuri?
- Tamenuri Studio: Urushi DIY, tamenuri fountain pens