INTRODUCING URUSHI LACQUER MAKING

"漆黒 / jet black" 堤淺吉漆店 from Naoki MIYASHITA/ Terminal81 Film on Vimeo.

Inherited traditional lacquer refining technology

The raw urushi lacquer may be used for bases or thin wipe-lacquering as is, or it may be refined and used as painting lacquer. For refining, raw lacquer is put into a special stirrer, and stirring work (called “Nayashi”) and moisture adjustments (called “Kurome”) are performed. Every day, our company produces various lacquers that meet the needs of our customers with different professions, usage and preference, utilizing the refining technology that has been passed down from generation to generation.

• Storage of lacquer sap Lacquer tree sap (raw urushi) sent from the production area is controlled at a constant temperature in a large refrigerator throughout the year, and quality control is performed so that the raw lacquer is always kept fresh.
• Raw urushi

  1. Put raw urushi into a hot water pot

• 2. Put cotton into the raw urushi and stir and knead it so wood chips and dust contained in the lacquer would adhere to the cotton
• 3. Done with adding cotton
• 4. The raw urushi is spun with a centrifuge
• 5. Purified raw urushi finished by centrifuge
• Nayashi

  This is an important process to make the finished coating film more precise and smooth by stirring the raw lacquer in the stirrer and homogenizing the lacquer particles. The gloss and dryness of the lacquer can be adjusted by the rotation speed and time of this stirring.

• Kurome

  Work to remove excessive moisture by applying heat to the lacquer. You can also adjust the viscosity and dryness of the lacquer depending on the time it takes to apply heat. We thoroughly control the temperature to which heat is applied, and purify the chrome while keeping the enzyme (laccase) healthy.

• Coloring urushi with pigment
• Three-roll mill

  Equipment for kneading pigments with higher dispersion

• High-quality colored lacquer is refined by finely dispersing colored lacquer that has been roughly kneaded by a three-roll mill kneading machine.
• Finished color lacquer
• Testing on a glass plate
• Measuring the gloss, drying time, transparency, viscosity, etc. in a temperature and humidity controled room, and storing the data
• In order to deliver customized lacquer that meets individual needs of customers with various types, we manage data of refined lacquer. We thoroughly control the quality of lacquer from the raw material stage to the shipping stage.