Any ideas for repairing a chipped marble rolling pin?
4It’s just a rolling pin from Marshalls- not an antique or anything, but my wife really liked using it and it got chipped while sitting in the sink. The chipped area is crumbling now, and I’d like to try to fix it before it spreads more. I thought maybe epoxy, but I’m not sure how food safe that is and I don’t know how I’d keep it round. It was cheap enough that it wouldn’t be worth bringing it to a counter place or anything (the main suggestion I saw on the internet).
Any thoughts?
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Dang, sorry to hear that! No ideas about how to repair it, but Ikea has a cheap one!
You’re probably be best off replacing it. As far as epoxy, it’s probably a good idea to try but you’ll want to get food safe stuff. Figure on filling it, multiple times if necessary, then sanding it down to match the profile of the rolling pin.
This place says Gel Superglue. Not positive marble acts similarly to soapstone or granite, but it’s cheap enough to be worth a shot before buying a replacement. Might use masking tape to create a ‘form’ then pour adhesive in. Smooth repair with sanding block or file when cured.
I’ve seen videos of sanding soapstone tile surfaces with wet epoxy in the joints, and the stone dust embeds in the epoxy & makes joint seamless & invisible
Might also try this or this. Should be available at local hardware or big box home center.
@compunaut I don’t think those are considered food safe.
It’s one thing to use epoxy to close a gap on a countertop; most of us don’t eat directly off of it. It’s a whole other when the repair will be in constant contact when rolling out dough, etc.
@narfcake
It’s a chip. We’re not talking about making the whole rolling pin out of epoxy or superglue
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Well, if you think that’s safe for not-a-chip-but-a “chipped area is crumbling now” damage, @compunaut …
In any case, @Pantheist will be the one making the decision of whether this is a good idea or not.
@narfcake You are absolutely right. DO NOT TAKE A TUBE OF SUPERGLUE AND INHALE, SWALLOW, OR TAKE INTERNALLY.
Once it’s cured, however, it’s damned near inert and pretty safe to use (US Natl Toxicology Program). Nobody’s suggesting it be grated onto a pizza, for pete’s sake
The Ikea one is wood.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/76485605/
As it’s going to be in contact with food, I too would feel uncomfortable using common adhesives. Alas, the food safe epoxies are not cheap.
With that said, there are cyanoacrylates (aka super glue) that are for wound closures. Given that it’s designed to be in direct contact with the body, I would like to think it’s safe to use. I have no idea on where to get it or how much, however.
@narfcake liquid bandaid, sold pretty much in any pharmacy. It’s probably just cyanoacrylate made in a cleaner environment. My one co-worker uses it often, and it reacts the same exact way as any other cyanoacrylate.
@RiotDemon All the liquid bandage I’ve ever seen (New-skin) is very different from CA… If you have specifics, it’d be good to hear, because generally speaking I’ve found medical-grade CA (Dermabond) to be rather difficult to come by, and pricy to boot.
That said, veterinary-grade (3M VetBond) is both easier to come by and cheaper. One more potential option, perhaps.
@brhfl I went looking for it and this review of Liquid Bandaid probably explains why I can’t find it:
“J&J’s two-step liquid bandage (2-octyl-cyanoacrylate) was amazing. It eliminated the need for all those expensive and wasteful applications and reapplications of bandages. Some folks apparently misapplied it, got their fingers stuck to their wounds. I’ll bet they complained, when it was really J&J’s fault not to include a little bottle of acetone with the bandage kit, and idiot-proof instructions. The insurers and MBAs took over, and reformulated it into this useless version”
@RiotDemon was it any different from regular crazy glue? I’ve always heard it was invented as a battlefield alternative to stitches anyway
@RiotDemon Hah!
@Pantheist AFAIK that’s not accurate; CA was accidentally discovered by Goodrich and then Eastman-Kodak when both companies were looking for ways to formulate liquid plastics. The original was methyl 2-cyanoacrylate; common superglue is ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate; and the medical stuff is 2-octyl cyanoacrylate. All that shit is over my head, but supposedly the octyl stuff was developed to be less toxic.
@brhfl It’s been years since I barely passed organic chemistry, but from the little I remember what you’re saying does make sense. I’ll have to look further into it tomorrow.
If you wanted to go the CA route, I believe (without much in the way of fact checking) that once dried (polymerized) it’s all inert. The toxicity is in the vapors when it’s in liquid form as I recall.
You can use baking soda with thin/ liquid CA to form a type of instant cement. Fill the chip with baking soda and drip CA glue in it until it’s solid then sand it down smooth.
Note that I would do more research on the food safety aspect of this, but it’s definitely doable from a structural standpoint.
@brhfl a doctor told me the liquid bandaid stuff is a little different than regular superglue. regular stuff gets kind of hot in contact with skin, the bandaid stuff has something to prevent that but the bonding stuff is exactly the same.
@jihiggs You needed to ask your doctor to define “hot”. Possibly they are using the minimum temperature for something to be called hot as 212 F. The ER used that stuff to close a cut through my eyebrow and side of my nose. It felt like they were trying to burn a hole through my head. The burning last all that long but it was seriously painfully hot initially. I can also tell you that if you are still bleeding, even a little, that just makes the stuff come right off your skin even after it hardens. I had to have it applied twice. I guess it was better than stitches but I can see a little kid scream and struggle to get away.
@Kidsandliz You haven’t lived until you’ve had to hold down your own kicking & screaming 6yr old to a gurney in the emergency room while the ER doc tries to sew them together with surgical needle & thread.
Take it from me: the glue is the way to go.
I appreciate all the suggestions, but when I say the rolling pin was pretty cheap I mean it was 10 or 15 bucks- spending 10 to repair it is a bit much given our current budget. If something is either reusable or good for sealing the cracks to keep them from spreading that would be a good option.
@Pantheist Wal-Mart has a nonstick rolling pin for $8.50. Bed bath and beyond has a marble one for ~$15.
Maybe in the meantime, just put a piece of packing tape on the one side if you have any… Or using plastic wrap.
@Pantheist I saw a purple, silicone-coated rolling pin at Big Lots just tonight. It was < $10
@Pantheist - Many on eBay around $7, but shipping might kill the deal. http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-Black-Marble-Rolling-Pin-with-Wood-Handles-18-Pastry-Cookie-Roller-Food-/172329554381?hash=item281fa451cd:g:pnIAAOSw9IpXy7YU
@KDemo I just looked on eBay and they have them for $20 free shipping
depending on where of the chip is if its at the end why not pull the rolling pin apart and use your saw to cut the area with the chip off
Sugru is some of the greatest stuff on Earth. I use it to fix damn near everything. If it were my rolling pin, I’d try some Sugru.
@Nate311 I’d ordered a multipack of SuGru; it should be here today. You’re right, it looks like a lot of fun.
@Nate311 I agree with this. You’d want to check on the safety aspect, but the stuff is super easy to use and does exactly what it says it will do.
Call a cemetery headstone place and ask them about it. I have a marble top table and marble top dresser and they are great for fixing, polishing, etc. anything stone.
I don’t know much about marble but when I chip a plate I usually file it down smooth with a round diamond file and leave it like that. A smoother surface won’t continue to break down.
Marble is porous so I wonder if the rolling pin has a sealer on it to begin with? So maybe file it down and then add whatever sealer they use on marble counter-tops. This might get more expensive than just getting a new one though.
As for epoxy, most epoxies are completely non-toxic and inert once fully cured. JB Weld (my go-to brand) specifically states their product is inert, non-toxic, food safe up to 600 degrees. People use it to fix cookware and kitchen stuff. I wouldn’t use it on anything that gets hot but I’d probably try it on the edge of a rolling pin.
suggest repairing it with hemp plastic (look it up). Of course, it is food safe and the more you repair it the happier you’ll be.
This is a ton of suggestions when it seems like the most ideal one is: Buy another damn rolling pin.
Oh, oh, oh, I know this one! Sand blast the whole thing.
Knife grade polyester? Tenax is a popular brand, but costs more than the pin.
JB weld it, if you’ve got the piece of marble smash it up into a powder and mix twitch the jb weld and make layers of no more than 1/8 in thick. Posers and apartment dwellers use duck tape, real men use JB Weld
@cranky1950
/giphy duck tape
Obvious solution: Cut the rolling pin down.