Stormy Marble Repair With Gold!
Introduction: Stormy Marble Repair With Gold!
Kintsugi or Kintsukuroi is the Japanese art of repairing broken things, often broken pottery, with gold. The Japanese method is a metaphor for us humans to embrace our imperfections and flaws. Only when we embrace them, will they shine as good as gold!
Recently, a marble slab was accidentally dropped and broke into chunks. So, I thought to incorporate Kintsugi into fixing the slab. However, I did put a spin to the method so read on to find out what I did.
Step 1: Gathering Your Materials & Tools
The materials you will need to make this project are as follows:
* A broken marble slab
* 2-part resin epoxy
* Golden Mica Powders
* Hardwood Planks and Pieces (Alternatively you could use melamine sheets to make the mold).
* Construction Screws
* Wood Glue
* Acrylic DAP Caulk
* Packing Tape
* Vaseline Petroleum Jelly
* Gloves
* Sandpaper
* Plastic Cup
The tools you will need to build this project are as follows:
* Drill with a square bit
* Tape Measure
* Caulk Gun
* Hammer
* Craft Chisel
* Level
* Pliers or Tweezers (optional)
* Putty Knife
* Silicone Brush
* Paintbrush
* Camping Lighter or Blow Torch
* Handsaw (Alternatively you could use a Circular Saw or Jigsaw)
* Popsicle or Mixing Stick
* Wet Rag
* Don't forget your pencil!
This list might look lengthy but you are going to have to trust the process. You might be able to substitute some things for others in order to save you time.
Step 2: Solving the Marble Puzzle
Before we get into any other steps, we need to put all of the marble pieces in order how they were before the slab broke. Lay down the chunks on a table or on the floor and solve it like a puzzle. This will help us later when we are going to make the mold. Solving the marble slab also allows us to determine if there are any pieces missing.
Step 3: Taking Measure
This step is crucial since it will determine how you will make your mold. We only need to measure the length and width as they control the size of the mold. My marble slab clocks in at 60 inches in length and 4 inches in width. The thickness of the marble I have is 2 cm, but that is irrelevant to our project. 95
However, you may need it to know how much resin you"ll need whereas I just took a rough estimate.
Step 4: Making the Mold
For this step, I tried to cut as little as possible because I am using a manual saw. Feel free to go along with these steps or go your own way with a power saw.
Take two 7ft wooden hardwood planks and screw them perpendicular to each other on the long side. Put a small square at one end of the plank to give it another side.
Step 5: Spacing the Marble on the Mold
Now put the marble slab on one of the long sides and space it out according to how thick you want the golden veins. Keep in mind, your final piece will be longer than the original marble slab. So I recommend letting loose on the golden veins and add as many as you want. You can also break an existing chunk to give the final piece more definition. Make sure there is enough space to have all of the pieces fit nicely.
Step 6: Making the Mold : the Sequel
Add the square on the other side of the mold to cap it off and measure the remaining side to cut a plank to the right size.
Mark a wood plank with the correct size and cut it off with your saw. My plank measured in at 5 feet and 7 1/4 inches after being cut.
Screw the piece onto the mold so that inside the mold, the width is just a little bigger than 4 inches. This will depend on the marble slab you have and its width, but remember to keep it a little bigger so that your marble slab can easily fit in. Also, remember to not make it too big, or else resin will pour into the sides making for a lot of extra work later on.
Step 7: Sealing the Mold
In this step, I chose to combine several methods of sealing a mold to acheieve an optimal final product. Below I take you through step by step on how to seal the mold:
1. I took caulking to seal up any edges and corners to prevent resin from going out of the mold through the inside
2. I lined up the bottom and sides on the inside of the mold with packing tape to act as parchment paper
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