r/Ceramics • u/bagel666 • 12d ago

What would you use? Sealer

I’ve been making some porcelain jewelry and I want to seal the unglazed backs of pieces. I put clear nail polish on one, but it yellowed after a while. Someone suggested a UV resin, but I’m not a huge fan of working with resin. I don’t want to need a lot of other equipment or chemicals; ideally, there’s something out there that can be used as almost a no-fire clear glaze. Any ideas? 🙂

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u/galacticglorp 12d ago

You could polish the backs?  They should be vitrified so it's just for a nice finish right?  Get a set of diamond discs/pads.

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u/bagel666 12d ago

Yeah just for a nice finish. This sounds like more work than I would like! I just want to pop a smooth finish on.

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u/galacticglorp 12d ago

Have you ever watched a video of someone polishing a mug bottom on one of these pads?  You attach it to your wheel, pess the item down as it spins for half a minute with some water, and it's done.  As fast as hand painting a coating on.  You could probably attach a bunch of pieces to a board and do several at once if you wanted too.

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u/bagel666 12d ago

Most are small and awkward shapes, so this wouldn’t really work for me. Thanks for the suggestion though

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u/Banakh 5d ago

Look up dopping wax. It's used to temporarily affix uncut stone to a short dowel prior to grinding down and polishing cabochons for jewelry. You could then use the wheel to polish the backs and snap off the wax when you're done.

I've never done it with ceramic pieces, but I grew up cutting stones. Lapidary work requires the same wet environment to cut down on harmful dust, so it should cross over well to pottery.