Repair and Restoration Material and Supplies

This page is work in progress and will be completed in a few weeks. It is divided to three parts:
1) Do it yourself easy to use and easy to obtain restoration materials (cements, epoxies, glues, fillers, colors, "cold glazes")

2) Technically more challenging process, more expensive, more difficult to source materials and tools required for a "more professional" restoration

3) Museum restoration level for highly valued items covering areas such as cleaning, "reversing repairs", archival quality restoration and choices made for various different cases (not covered in this page - coming soon)

Do it yourself - materials available at a reasonable cost
Do it yourself repair kit
2-Parts Cements & ColdGlaze	Fillers and Cleaning	Colors and Additives
Fast Cure Clear Epoxy: Restorer Supplies or Loctite 3-5 minutes cure time strong bond. Smells a bit. With a sharp knife, cut off excess glue after the first hour but prior to 3 hours. Can be mixed with pigments to match ceramic color. Get thinner at 120 degree F. ($7) Demo of it's strength: Video clip Where to purchase	Fast and Slow Cure Putty Fillers: Restorer Supplies Inc. has a nice selection of 2-part epoxies sandable fillers (e.g., Magic Sculpt). Powder color pigments can be mixed in for closer color match to the repaired ceramic. More details and where to purchase	Good Quality Acrylic Paints: Matisse Derivan Acrylics paints are high quality and can be used with the over coating and additives listed below.. More details and where to purchase
Slower Cure Clear Epoxy: This is a standard rapid setting epoxy that is very popular in England. Araldite Rapid initially cures in 10 minutes, but gains in strength overnight. ($15) More details and where to purchase	White Slow Cure Epoxy Filler: PC-11 is white and slow cure time and sandable filler epoxy. Powder color pigments can be mixed in for closer color match to the repaired ceramic. Slow cure time. See a step by step repair using PC-11 More details and where to purchase	Acrylic Additives: Liquitex Fluid Mediums are designed to be mixed with acrylic paints or be applied over for the right sheen, protection, durability and texture. More details and where to purchase
Good Quality Cold Glaze 2-part Epoxy: This Rod Finish product works very well as a finish with ceramic restoration. It is durable, very clear, self-leveling, UV protection, long life, slight-yellowing when exposed to day light for years. And.... Available in small quantities and relatively low cost. More details and where to purchase	Cleaning Old Glue: Goof Off removes stains, paint, oil, cements, glues and cold glazes. It does not remove all 2-part epoxies. More details and where to purchase Modeling clay used to hold broken pieces in place as the epoxy cement cures More details and where to purchase	Powder pigments: Mineral pigments may be mixed directly into epoxy resin prior to mixing with hardener. More details and where to purchase Micro-Mesh products enhance the performance, life and appearance of materials and products. These "cushioned", long lasting fine abrasives provide the ultimate finishes "sanding" results. Where to purchase
One-part Urethane Cold Glaze: Water-clear, durable one part cold glaze. Slight-yellowing when exposed to day light for years. Very good finish at a reasonable quality without dealing with "two-parts epoxy" mess. The rod finish industry worked for long and hard to create very tough finishes and are sold in small quantities at lower cost. More details and where to purchase	Surface cleaning: Acetone or Lacquer thinner do a good job cleaning surfaces before applying cements, coloring or cold glazing. Do not use alcohol for surface cleaning! It leave oily coat on surface/ More details and where to purchase
More Professional Restoration Level - materials and tools Ceramic Restoration Supplies - All you need for ceramic or china restoration (Our favorite one-stop-shop) The Complete Sculptor, Inc Wide range of high end tools and supplies Alumilite - Silicone Mold Making Rubber & Urethane Casting Resins NOBLE - Fine tools and equipment Glass Works - Glass Restoration Tools
Higher strength, clarity and quality clear epoxy. UHU clear epoxy family are 2-component epoxy adhesives for heavy-duty applications. The bond strength can be increased by curing at a higher temperature. It will set with a very hard surface finish, with high resistance to impact, ageing and moisture. ($14) Where to Purchase	Glass and Ceramic Repair Optically Clear Epoxy: Araldite 2020 was specifically designed for glass bonding. It is suitable for clear castings and laminates. Araldite 2020 is a low- viscosity, two- component system which cures at room temperature. Expensive Data sheet Where to Purchase	Metallic Silver and Gold Paints: Ultimate Gold & Silver have been developed by Sylmasta to fulfill a void for high quality gold's. These golds and silvers are compatible with other Sylmasta products. They can be mixed with the dry pigments as well as the solvent-based acrylics. Where to purchase
Glass Repair and Fine Cracks Filler: Optically clear epoxy. Used most often as an adhesive for bonding glass, dries clear and can be thinned with aromatic or ketone solvents thus enabling the application by air brush. Soluble in Methylene Dichloride. Hxtal can be tinted, and is often used that way for color matching the glass, ceramic or porcelain. Expensive Instructions - Where to Purchase	Fast Cure Clear Epoxy: Restorer Supplies 2-3 minutes pot time (working time) strong bond. Smells a bit. With a sharp knife, cut off excess glue after the first hour but prior to 3 hours. Can be mixed with pigments to match ceramic color. Get thinner at 120 degree F. ($7) Demo of it's strength: Video clip More details and where to purchase	High End Cold Glaze - ColdGlaze (Advancement to Rustins) is a 2 Part Epoxy System. ColdGlaze system has been specially developed for the re-glazing of repairs on china, ceramics porcelains etc. It cures to a tough; almost glass hard finish, which has excellent non-yellowing characteristics, Where to Purchase