Expert: Sam Kelly - 6/10/2009

Question
Hello

A clay figure I made lost its head during the first firing in the kiln. I am very keen to keep this piece of work and glaze and re-fire it. Would it be best to leave it as it is and repair it at the end of the process, or is there any glue I can use now and so glaze it in 1 piece with the glaze potentially giving a better appearance around the crack?

Thank you.

Answer
Hi Daniel, glaze both pieces in the finished glaze you are using, except for the broken areas. You want both pieces to join together as smooth as possible. The trick is to apply with a brush a very thin layer of claze( a clear will do) on the broken surface of both pieces, sit them in place. The glaze between the two will melt in the firing and join them together. After you have joined them together apply with a brush some more of the outside glaze around the crack, making it thicker to help hide any irregularities, then fire.
The only other option is to fire both pieces seperately and join with 24 hour araldite.

Sam