Manufacturing technology of Duanyan tea tray
The manufacturing process of Duan inkstone is very complicated. There are dozens of working procedures, mainly including quarrying, material selection, design, carving, box matching, polishing and waxing. From these processes, we can see the local inkstone artists' understanding of nature, which embodies the relationship between man and nature, man and social environment and history and culture. Here is a brief introduction to the making process of Duanyan tea tray.
1. Quarrying: Quarrying is the first step in making Duanyan. Duanyan Stone is mainly distributed in Duanzhou District, Dinghu District of Zhaoqing City, Fokker Mountain, Antelope Mountain and Beiling Mountain on both sides of Xijiang River in Gaoyao City. The location of the inkstone deposit is about 400 meters above the intrusion datum (Xijiang water level) and below 65,438+000 meters. Since ancient times, it has been mined by hand, with high labor intensity and high quarrying technology. Therefore, "a catty of Duanyan stone is worth thousands of dollars". It is very important to master the stone veins when mining inkstone. Quarrymen must master the growth law of inkstone, and distinguish between "stone meat" and "top stone" and "floor stone" in mining. According to the growth law of inkstone, let nature take its course, and the depth is just cut to the stone grid (stone layer), and then knock the four sides with a chisel to shake the inkstone material open, so as to keep the integrity of the inkstone material as much as possible.
2, secondary materials: secondary materials, also known as material selection system, is to make inkstones into inkstones. Not all mined inkstones can be made into inkstones. After screening, defective, cracked or rotten stones, stone skins, roof stones and floor stones are all removed, leaving "stone meat". This process needs to know how to look at stones. A skilled stonemason can "see through the stone" and predict the invisible stone patterns on the surface. According to the natural shape of the inkstone, the inkstone worker will also use a hammer or chisel to make the required inkstone-shaped inkstone, and leave the best place of the inkstone as the inkstone hall.
3. Design: This is a very important link in the process of making inkstone in Shipu. The purpose of the design is to design the inkstone into an inkstone, so that the flaws on the stone are perfect, thus achieving the purpose of icing on the cake and increasing its artistic value. The design of Duanyan requires that "the composition is mainly stone, and the artistry is mainly material".
4. Sculpture: Sculpture is the process by which artists in Guangdong Province carve inkstones into inkstones, and it is also an important process to sublimate inkstones into works of art ... An inkstone platform is mainly composed of inkstone hall (inkstone hall), inkstone pool (Mo Chi), inkstone column (pool head), inkstone edge, inkstone forehead (inkstone head), bottom edge, inkstone wall, inkstone corner, inkstone lip, inkstone surface and inkstone bottom (inkstone back). According to the design requirements, sculptors should use different carving techniques and tools to carve a stone into an inkstone.
5. Polishing: It is to smooth the chisel marks on the carved inkstone. Before the Republic of China, it was polished with natural talc with different thicknesses, but now it is polished with oilstone and sandpaper. When grinding, wet the inkstone, rough grind it first to remove gouges and cuts, and then grind it repeatedly with talc and young sandpaper, preferably 1000 mesh water mill sandpaper, until the inkstone feels smooth, and finally "soak the ink to moisten the stone", and after a day or two, fade the ink.
6. Waxing: coating a layer of wax on the finished inkstone to protect the inkstone and also for viewing. Heat the ground inkstone with hot water or slow fire to the temperature to dissolve the wax, then coat it with beeswax or white wax, and wipe the wax evenly with a cloth or brush. After the inkstone is cooled, use charcoal powder to wipe off the wax in the inkstone hall, and the precious Guangdong inkstone will be completed. The ancient inkstone was not waxed.