Your Broken Piece Isn't Finished Yet
You opened the kiln or crossed the studio and found it. A crack running where it shouldn't be. A handle separated clean off. A chip missing from a rim you spent an hour refining. Your first thought was probably the same one most potters have: start over.
But what if that piece could still become finished work?
Paper Clay Repair Techniques walks you through a repair material that does what plain slip cannot: it bonds. The cellulose fiber in paper clay creates a mechanical bridge across cracks, gaps, and breaks. When mixed and applied correctly, it holds through drying and firing. This book shows you how, step by step, in plain language.
I wrote this because most clay books treat repair as a footnote. A paragraph on vinegar slip. A troubleshooting tip that rarely works. Repair deserves its own skillset. A cracked piece represents hours of your hands on clay. Sometimes it's worth saving. Sometimes it's not. This book helps you tell the difference and gives you the tools to act on either answer.
Inside, you'll find clear instruction on:
- Making an honest assessment of whether a repair is worth your time
- Mixing paper clay specifically for repair, not general building
- Closing cracks so they stay closed through drying and firing
- Rebuilding missing sections layer by bonded layer
- Rejoining clean breaks with joinery that survives the kiln
- Blending and texturing repairs so they become difficult to spot
- Firing repaired work without the repair failing
- Understanding what went wrong when a repair doesn't hold
The chapters are organized by damage type. If you have a crack, go to Chapter 3. A missing chunk, Chapter 4. A clean break, Chapter 5. The Quick-Reference section at the back helps you diagnose fast when you're standing at your worktable holding a damaged piece.
This book is complete on its own. At the end, I've included an optional bonus resource for readers who want a fast damage-to-solution reference without rereading full chapters.
Who this is for: anyone with basic clay experience who has made something they care about and wants the option to save it when damage happens. Not your first clay book. The one you reach for when things go wrong.
What this book won't do: promise every repair will be invisible. Some will show under transparent glazes. Some damage isn't worth the effort, and you'll learn to recognize that early. What it offers is a reliable process for giving damaged work its best possible outcome.
If you have a piece sitting on a shelf that you couldn't bring yourself to throw away, this book was written for that moment.
