tutorial · French
This video demonstrates the use of a Tokusa stick for natural abrasion (ponçage) in kintsugi repair. It is useful for practitioners seeking to smooth filler or remove excess lacquer without using sandpaper, specifically to protect delicate ceramic glazes.
A walkthrough written from Kintsugi Art’s video ↗. The recording is the authoritative demonstration; this page is a working guide to it.
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Materials
Conditions
The method
Each heading links back to the moment in the source video where it begins.
One video is one workshop's account, not a complete method. 2 of 2 steps here are not fully settled by this source — it leaves out what a correct result looks like, or how the step fails. Those are marked in place below.
Soak the Tokusa stick in water for 20 to 30 minutes to soften the branch. Alternatively, the stick may be used directly in its dry form, depending on preference. This preparation step ensures the silica grains are accessible for abrasion while maintaining control over the surface interaction.
Not settled by this video The source shows this step without saying what a good result looks like, or how it fails.
Begin abrasion by occasionally moistening the stick during the process. This technique is preferred over sandpaper when there is a risk of damaging the ceramic glaze. The maker should feel the silica grains of the Tokusa stick under their fingers to gauge the contact and pressure applied to the filler or lacquer surface.
When it is rightThe silica grains are felt under the fingers during abrasion.
Not settled by this video The source does not show what going wrong looks like here.
Terminology in this video
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