u/Worried-Evening2350

I set out to make a black as can be by material not just outer shell covering.

Material makeup

97% wood charcoal

3% kaolin powder

.5% black micha to balance out kaolin powder

It went about as well as you would think lol. Mostly as a why not its either gunna work or im gunna learn something about the process. Needless to say I had it mostly there but shining with any object other than my hand chunked off pieces. So I tried rolling it by hand for a while and didnt go very far but the core seemed to have dried so I gave it a little elbow grease and bam that was the end of it. Thankfully I did it over a sink.

It was dirty as all hell. Left a mess wherever it was. And then I have barely anything to show for it except a large chunk that survived.

Should have stopped where I was but gotta push it for the science.

Am I going to make another? Hell yea gunna tweak the formula and go again.

Dorodango meets kintsugi

For anyone that doesn't know here is a blurb

Kintsugi is the traditional Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using a special tree-sap lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.

Ever since I broke one I knew this would be an eventuality. But as a tester this couldn't have gone better. It started showing cracks during a final rolling so I played with it holding a flame to it which had interesting results more on that a different day. But then as it was left to continue to dry out the crack became more pronounced. So I pulled on it and a sizable chunk came off.

Knowing what I needed to do and already having all I needed to do it (quite a rare occurrence) I got it back together a little too well leaving very little gap so I scored along the cracks with a fingernail and left a groove for the gold to settle in.

Im very happy with the results and have new ideas for the future!

It has only two blemishes but damn does it shine like no other I have done.

A combo of several different types. Main is two types of dirt then a bit of clay powder. Finally put in all that polishing, finished off with a bit of olive oil rolled in hand, then rubbed down with a firm hand with the egg cup and boy did it come out as the best one yet!

Not gonna lie my interest was waning due to poor results and just couldn't catch that good shine but I'm so glad I gave it one more because I'm getting better. So in that keep going its hard but take a break and come back. You will get there.

As requested. Please I dont care if you think it was a fail I want to see any attempts! This is a learning process and if you find that something didnt work let us know.

I will be making a video all the way through the process when I get some new materials. So hold tight if you need a more in depth video.

Like I swear every time you see it its after a cut in the video and the thing is mirror shine.

Wife's family owns a lake house and I decided to make a memento for all the family using dirt from it.

The large one in the center will be for the lake house itself and all the families get one.

Each one came out just a little different but I think that its the really cool part of it.

Multicolor is my new favorite and I'm working out the process better and better. I can't wait to get three or more colors to make a speckled master piece.

Idk why this didnt post here but original post on my page I guess.

Anyway I was utilizing the oppertunity of having two diffrent color dirts to try and do a mashed up speckled look but combining the two before the compressing/rolling process. It worked out pretty securely and set up for a good success. The trick was figuring out out to do the rest of it without covering all the work with a shell that would have deleted all the setup.

While rolling periodically I would take a damp rag and just kind of polish the surface and wipe away the top layer so as to expose the pattern underneath. With a vaired success it started to show more and more but during rolling a pretty big crack appeared and I said screw it, gunna roll with it (sorry for pun) I gently broke it open and decided there was only one way to put it back together. Another japanese method of kintsugi.

By taking the lighter of the two dirty i with i had a gold one that would have been epic! I created a very fine emulsion and stuck the two back together.

It was a mild success but I'm pretty happy with it and hope to inspire another to maybe give it a go. Photos are in order

Was riding a bike path through a forest and saw a downed tree that has some really cool reddish dirt so I grabbed a shopping bags worth to try and do this clay extraction for the first time. Its been crazy messy and work but damn rolling this tiny little ball made the whole process worth it. Its just a tester but damn it im so happy to have another color to work with.

I go out looking for some perfect tools at a goodwill or something then just think wait I have the necessary skills and tools to make my own. sheeeit lets give it a try. I hope to make many tools that will be accessible to all that would like them. Has anyone else tried? Id love to collab and make the best tools possible.

Though I'm getting better these are my first three from left to right the last one being one I tried a dimple texture on. Ironically the one that was supposed to be uneven turned out to be my best so far but the first two I can't seem to polish down well. Looking for guidance if anyone wants to point out some stuff.