[Jewelry making - Article 00752] - Re: [Orchid] Sculpture repair

[Peter W . Rowe]

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>                A friend has (had) a very nice Chinese carving made of
>     turquoise. It had a serious accident and is now in 3 or 4 pieces.
>     I am wondering what the best glue might be to attempt a repair. 

    You could use one of the super glues, but I find I get the best
    results with this type of material (turqoise is porous) using
    epoxies.  I'd recommend the Hughs "epoxy 330"  Also get a small can
    of attack, a solvent for cured epoxies. the epoxy gives you decent
    working time of about 15-20 minutes or so, with a couple hours to set
    properly, but if you put the glued joint under an incandescent light
    bulb to get warmed up a bit, it can be fully cured in ten minutes. 
    As with all epoxies, measure the two parts carefully.  If you've got
    a small scale (like a gemstone scale), weigh the two parts rather
    than relying on visual estimates.  Mix the two parts very well.  Now
    fit the repair parts together.  if needed, do this in several stages,
    fitting only two parts together at a time, and mixing new epoxy for
    each new joint.  You can use tape (scotch tape, or others) to hold
    parts, or better, clamp them under a bit of pressure, using  wood
    clothes pins, rubber bands, or whatever you can come up with. After
    fitting a joint, let a trace of glue extrude to the surface, but you
    can wipe off excess you can easily reach.  After the joint has cured,
    though, use the Attack solvent on a rag to clean off any remaining
    excess.   The degree to which you'll be able to get an invisible or
    nearly invisible joint will depend largely on how much edges of the
    pieces were damaged.  Often when things like this break, the raw
    edges have lost bits and pieces too, so the joint shows little gaps. 
    so then the seam shows up more.  It will, if you look closely likely
    still show unless theres so much mottleing and matrix in the stone
    that it can hide in that pattern.   It's also possible to mix pigment
    with the epoxy so it matches the color of the stone, but this often
    doesn't make the joint all that much less visible. Hope that helps. 

Peter Rowe



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