How to fix...

[ernesttheowl]

Posting here for traffic - sorry!

Ernest the piggy-bank owl is much loved by my DS and was made/painted by my grandmother for us. I dropped it the other day.

The break isn't too bad, and I can put it back together easily, so I wondered if any of you know how to fix ceramic breaks? Superglue? I'm hopeless with things like this.

Name-changed as Ernest could be outing. Ha.

I usually find superglue works pretty well.

@Fifthtimelucky That's what I thought, DP is adamant that superglue won't work.

You can get specific ceramic glues. The advantage of superglue is that you hold things together until the glue is set - much easier to do for 60secs with fingers than it is to do for hours with bits of sellotape.

Downside of superglue is advice on removing from fingers is warm soapy water, so I imagine it's not good for ceramics that need to go in the dishwasher - not the case with Ernest.

Maybe take him to a specialist art supplies shop, they'd know what sort of adhesive to use on ceramic, and would be able to sell you the right one.

I just mended a ceramic cake stand with super glue. What is dh s reason for thinking it won’t work?

I would probably use araldite for a break like that.
If you are not good at this sort of thing and it's precious to you, google your town and "repair cafe". They are all over the country, run by people like me with an obsessional interest in different types of adhesives etc. Our monthly repair cafe (like most) would repair this for a small donation to the church hall we use.
For other users, repair cafes also fix clothing and electrical items. Worth a look.

I wouldn't use superglue unless I'd used a PVA size on the broken edges first. I don't think it would hold strong enough. If you do go with superglue, carefully tape the owl to hold the seams tight after glueing and lower the whole thing into a big bowl of water (superglue is an anaerobic glue, so it dries in the absence of oxygen).

If the base is hollow you could use Sugru to reinforce the joins on the inside, in conjunction with araldite on the broken edges.

God, you've started me off on adhesives now.

I have no idea what Sugru is but reading the suggestion by a pp I think I remember it also being mentioned on the thread where someone broke a ceramic duck. And I think the duck was successfully mended.

Sugru mouldable glue

Sugru is a bit like plasticine that sets solid and glues things together. It's amazing stuff, lots of examples on Pinterest. I think it's too thick for a nice ceramic mend, that's why I suggested putting it on inside joins because it would reinforce a thinner glue really well. I've used Sugru to reattach broken saucepan lid handles, fix a hole in a camera case, cover over loose wires on an iPhone charger, and other stuff. We use it at the repair cafe too.

I've used a 2 part gorilla glue on a ceramic planter. It isn't invisible but I didn't do it 2 carefully as I had decided to go down the japanese route - basically strong at the broken places - and painted the mends gold. I think it could have been neater if I tried. I think, carefully applied, super glue or gorilla glue would work well.

I used clear gorilla glue on a small clay ornament that broke - turned out well.

Hmm, I think I'll give Sugru a try!

Thank you for all the great suggestions for fixing Ernest.