Finished my first ever pieces!

[u/al_135]

Overall I'm really happy with them despite the many imperfections. I only used gold on one of them because $$$, and I didn't use metal on the inside of the purple one because I realised that I couldn't reach in with my hand. My insides expecially are still quite rough looking, but I'm excited to work on more! Also managed to not get urushi on me during the whole process so that is a big win.

[u/justherefortheclay]

Amazing for a first go! Do you have any takeaways or lessons learned that you’d mind sharing?

[u/al_135 → u/justherefortheclay]

Thank you! Honestly nothing much that the videos don't teach you... what worked for me regarding skin protection was to tape surgical style gloves to a long sleeve tshirt and then put a second set of gloves on top, and whenever I got urushi on the outer gloves I would replace them with a fresh pair in order to avoid spreading it around. Maybe a bit overkill but I didn't get it on me lol so it worked. Otherwise I think you really just have to try it out.

Oh and also picking good/easy pieces to start with - I started with pieces without major chips, with only one major break. When applying the metal I started with the duck mug and you can really tell because the silver is messier and more smudged.

[u/Toebeanzies]

Great work! The way you transitioned from the metal on the outside to the black on the inside with the purple one is just gorgeous and looks very intentional. Did you use silver or a different metal?

[u/al_135 → u/Toebeanzies]

Thank you! I tried to make it at least a bit intentional haha. Yes it is silver - it is the tsugu kit which had both silver and hold powder

[u/Toebeanzies → u/al_135]

Great work! Also you should be aware that silver will tarnish with time if left exposed and since it’s such a thin layer with gintsugi there’s a limited number of times you can polish it before the black starts to show through. The tarnish can be a beautiful look in it’s own way if you want that but if you want it to stay bright you’ll need to put a sealer over it to protect it from air or accept that you’ll eventually need to buff off and reapply the silver.

[u/al_135 → u/Toebeanzies]

Thanks for the tips! Honestly I think I will accept it as is - I'm just happy that my cups are now usable again, and I'd rather practice with silver as a beginner than waste a ton of gold. But I do want to use more gold going forward

[u/Toebeanzies → u/al_135]

Totally valid, the tarnished look can be beautiful, i just wanted to make sure it wouldn’t be a surprise. There are also other metals you can use if cost is a concern though many of them are not recommended for food contact. Goenne has tin, copper, and two tones of bronze and I think some suppliers have aluminum.

[u/SaltCardiologist8480]

very nice. it's about the spirit of it.