How to Fix a Ceramic Baking Dish

Fixing a ceramic baking dish can extend its life.

Repairing a broken ceramic baking dish is a simple process. Simply gluing the pieces together will help the ceramic dish regain its former shape. However, once a ceramic dish is broken, you cannot use it as a baking dish any more. The heat from the oven will melt the glue, causing the dish to break, or causing the toxins present in the glue to leech in the food. However, the dish can be a decorative object, flower pot or container for fruit or other items.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Two-part epoxy glue or industrial gel adhesive
• Craft sticks
• Self-gripping tweezers
• Wet rag
• Polyester resin
• Sharp knife
• Sandpaper
• Paint
• Paintbrush

1. Collect all of the broken pieces of the baking dish. Conduct a trial test run for the fitting of the pieces to make sure all of the pieces fit snugly together. Place small pieces in a different location for fitting together later.

2. Mix the two parts of the epoxy glue with a craft stick. Work with a small amount at a time, because the adhesive will harden after five minutes. If you use adhesive gel, skip this step.

3. Start with the largest pieces. Spread a line of glue on one of the pieces. Press the two pieces together so that they fit precisely. Hold in place for about a minute while the glue sets. Wipe any glue residue off of the side of the baking dish with a wet rag. Continue to glue all large pieces in this manner.

4. Hold small pieces with self-gripping tweezers. Apply a line of glue to the pieces, then press into place against the dish.

5. Replace missing pieces in the dish by creating a fill with polyester resin. Mix the resin and the hardener together with a craft stick.

6. Fill in any gaps with the resin using a craft stick. Allow the resin to become rubbery. Shape the resin with a sharp knife to match the contours of the baking dish. Allow the resin to dry completely, usually between six and 24 hours.

7. Sand the resin with sandpaper and paint the resin to match the color of the rest of the dish. Allow the paint to dry for three hours.

References

• Prima Gallery: Repairing Ceramics
• Ron Hazelton: How to Repair Broken Ceramic