01
Apply and sand a sabi ground over the crack
Lay a coat of sabi putty over the crack line, then sand it back very slowly using charcoal or a very high-grit abrasive until the surface is smooth and level with the surrounding glaze.
Reported practice · r/Kintsugi
Feedback on a kintsugi crack repair: sabi ground, diluted ki-urushi, and sourcing red lacquer
A practitioner posts a kintsugi repair of a cracked ceramic pot (confirmed to be an IKEA piece) and asks how to improve the crack texture and whether the gold and red urushi are appropriate. The thread yields one personal method for building up the crack fill and two brief suggestions on obtaining red lacquer.
This page is written from one discussion thread. It records what practitioners reported and what they linked it to — not documented workshop practice. Every claim below links to the comment it rests on, so you can read it in context.
Ki-urushi (raw lacquer) is a potent skin sensitiser; contact can trigger a delayed urushiol-type reaction that may appear hours or days after exposure. Wear nitrile or latex gloves and avoid skin contact throughout mixing, application, and sanding.
What the thread establishes
The answer.
The main substantive suggestion is to build the crack fill in stages: lay down a sabi putty, sand it back slowly with charcoal or very fine abrasive, then apply two or three thin coats of diluted ki-urushi so the lacquer stretches without leaving surface marks, let those cure fully, and only then apply the metal-dust layer. One commenter adds that red urushi can be mixed from iron-oxide pigment or micro-fine brick dust (filtered before use), while another advises a beginner to simply buy a small tube of ready-made concentrate rather than mixing pigment into raw lacquer, since colour-matching takes practice. The OP confirms they used only ki-urushi and had not yet attempted a red coat.
02
Build up the crack with diluted ki-urushi
Apply two or three thin coats of ki-urushi diluted enough to stretch easily, which reduces the chance of surface imperfections. Allow each pair of coats to cure fully before proceeding.
03
Apply the metal-dust layer
Once the diluted ki-urushi coats have cured, apply the final layer intended to carry the gold or other metal dust.
··Reported
What was reported
- The OP used only ki-urushi for the repair and had not yet attempted a red-lacquer coat. ↗
- The sabi-and-diluted-ki-urushi sequence described is one self-taught practitioner's personal method and is explicitly not asserted to be the traditional or canonical procedure. ↗
- Diluting ki-urushi makes it easier to stretch over the crack and reduces surface imperfections compared with applying it undiluted. ↗
- Sanding the sabi layer with charcoal or very fine abrasive is the recommended way to smooth the ground before the lacquer coats go on. ↗
- Troubleshooting cure or waiting times on a scrap piece of wood before working on the final piece is a sensible practice. ↗
≠Disputed
How to obtain red urushi for a kintsugi repair
The thread does not settle this
Limits of this source
What the thread does not answer.
- Whether the gold-dust opacity the OP questioned is within normal range for a first kintsugi attempt, or whether a different grade of powder or a thinner application would be preferable.
- The correct cure time and humidity conditions for each of the diluted ki-urushi coats before the metal-dust layer is applied; the thread does not specify a duration.
- Whether the sabi ground should be applied over the full crack width or only in the gap, and how many passes of sanding are typical before the lacquer coats go on.