Vietnamese Lacquer Interest Check for US Artisans
Hello artisans,
I'm receiving a shipment of Vietnamese lacquer (Toxicodendron succedaneum, urushi relative) and I was wondering if there were any here who are interested in obtaining a bottle of it. I know how difficult it is to get outside of Southeast Asia, so I am willing to briefly bottle and sell at a loss for anyone interested in the US.
You can look up sơn mài for some more info on the craft.
The sap is similar to ki-urushi in its current state and you may use the same techniques as in urushi to process it further. Your furo is sufficient to cure this lacquer but slightly lower the temps and increase humidity slightly. It will take around 3 days or so.
It contains some urushiol, but the primary polymerization block is laccol which is softer but tougher. There have been experiments with mixing it with urushi to obtain a more desirable result.
Both laccol and urushiol have contact dermatitis risk as everyone here knows, so the obligatory warning comes here as well.
Just send me a message if you'd like a bottle and there will likely be at least a month of waiting time. You can also message me if you're outside of the US, but beware of shipping duties of course.