best adhesive to repair ceramics? Answered

Anyone suggesting superglue or Krazyglue should have their mouths washed out with cyanoacrylate. What you need is Dap, made by Dow-Corning. It's 100 percent silicone (i.e., the element of sand or glass), will create a barrier to liquid transfer through the break, and will withstand temperatures far above those in a dishwasher or boiling liquid, or any temperatures likely to be in a cup. It's also microwave safe.
It's absolutely nontoxic, and its clear. It should easily hide a clean break except for someone looking for the crack. I used it on a soup bowl a couple years ago or more, and my wife has never even noticed. It's been through the dishwasher and the microwave probably hundreds of times each, and it doesn't leak.

J B Weld is great stuff. I used it to repair mechanical equipment on fiber testing machines. It has been my 'go to stuff' every time I need a repair. So far, I have had no disappointments.

So useful and practical for me. Thanks for you excellent blog, nice work keep it up thanks for sharing the knowledge

Where do i find this?

There is some "FDA Compliant Coating for Direct and Indirect Food Contact" here: https://theepoxyexperts.com/shop/adhesives/max-clr-24-oz-epoxy-resin-food-safe-fda-compliant-clear-high-impact-coating/

I have just used Kintsugi to repair one of my christmas baubles. It looks super cool... If you haven't seen it before you can have a look at it here. Happy Repairing! :) (mora approved)

See more DIY ceramic, pottery, sculpture repair step by step lessons and tutorials

Kyle, a great idea unless it was your dead mother's. Typical guy.

solution: step one. throw out. step two. move on with your life.

For a quirky, and really nice finish, have a look at using the Kintsugi Repair Kit, A Dutch creation:

http://www.moraapproved.com/products/humade-the-new-kintsugi-diy-repair-kit

my mom has a ceramic stoneware pitcher she recieved for her wedding 30 years ago that has recently developed a crack which now leaks. She uses this pitcher a lot to make fresh brewed iced tea and she is very upset that it is cracked. I told her about DAP but her concern is that it would cause a temperature difference between the pitcher and the glue causing the pitcher to burst. Does anyone have experience with DAP or any other ceramic glues for food contact items and boiling water?

We had several items that came for us to implement proper seamless restoration where Dow-Corning Dap adhesive was used previously. It did hold well as long as hiding the repair lines is not required. It is not sandable or paintable. Therefore, separation of the broken pieces and removal of the silicon adhesive was required prior to proceeding with a seamless repair process -- and here where the problem starts.

To reverse the repair that was using Dap (or equivalent) often cost more than the repair it self. It can not be removed with solvents, or heat and the only remaining option is cutting and grinding which effect the broken pieces fit requiring more fill, more sanding, more painting, thus, higher cost. Worst case scenario is when the
silicone adhesive was used with porous material such as terracotta. The silicone
adhesive soaked in the material porous surface and the full depth of penetration
needed grinding further reducing fit.

So, if the item you are repairing is valuable or important, be aware of the above.

See more repair lessons

Kindly, Patty and Morty

www.lakesidepottery.com

solution: step one. throw out. step two. move on with your life.

We have a crack in a ceramic cup. Can the dap product be used to repair/strengthen the crack? Will it prevent seepage into the crack? And the crack would still be visible, right? Is there a way to hide the crack?

PC-11 is an epoxy that claims to be non-toxic when dry, although only rated up to 200 deg F.  I know people who have repaired radiators with it.  What do you think? Will I have children with gills if I drink out of this?

http://pcepoxy.com/our-products/paste-epoxies/pc-11.php

Alternately I've seen mention of Elmer's Craft Bond Ceramic & Glass Cement
http://www.elmers.com/GlueGuide/detail.asp?id=78&source=EL&selMaterial1=&selMaterial2=&aid=11

I haven't been able to get any detailed spec.s on this one though.

I default to JB Weld on most ceramic fixes:

http://www.jbweld.com/faqs/

You can also refer to

www.gluehow.com/recommendation/Ceramic/to/Ceramic andhttp://www.thistothat.com/cgi-bin/glue.cgi?lang=en&this=Ceramic&that=Cer amic

Lakeside Pottery, A ceramic restoration studio, posted a few step by step tutorials and illustrations (including videos) showing how to repair ceramic objects and where to purchase the epoxies and other ceramic repair related materials. See link below:

http://lakesidepottery.com/Pages/Pottery-tips/How-to-fix-broken-pottery-china-ceramic-lesson-1.htm

See an example below:

Well with this sort of damage there is only one way to go: kintsugi, the old Japanese art of repairing with gold. And since this is unaffordable you should check the invention Lotte Dekker did during a project we did on Repair. It is Bison kintsugi: http://www.platform21.nl/page/5752/nl?lang=en

How much will the adhesive cost?

How much will a replacement mug cost?

How much is your time worth, vs. how much satisfaction you'll get out of restoring it?

(Personally, I'd go with "repair it as a display piece, drink out of something else.")

Ditto what these other guys have said. I used regular glass & ceramic epoxy from Home Depot to repair my favorite coffee mug when the handle came off. The bond is very strong, and has stood up to the microwave & dishwasher regularly for the past five years. It is not invisible, and the repair is not in a location where the epoxy comes into contact with my coffee. I would not be comfortable with the idea of drinking hot coffee that had epoxy steeping in it.

Unless you use non-domestic epoxies, the epoxies you can readily buy, or the cyano-acrylates ("superglue") will not withstand boiling water for many cycles.

Permabond in the UK supply a superb high temperature epoxy, good to 190C, but that is AFAIR 120 GBP a tube.

There are phenolics that MIGHT do it, but I've not seen them in 0.5mL jars - which is probably all you need. 

Steve

It's permanently damaged, I wouldn't recommend anything to withstand the uses you describe. If I were having a go I'd use a clear epoxy glue, but I would not be be drinking coffee out of it daily.

L

For invisibility, there are types of superglue (CA adhesives) that are intended specifically for ceramic repairs.

I don't know what the adhesive manufacturers would claim, but I would not use hot liquids in it after being fixed, unless the join was clear of the liquid.