I spent a few years messing with different approaches with epoxy but I never found anything that could replace urushi. It's really hard to get foodsafe epoxy to

I spent a few years messing with different approaches with epoxy but I never found anything that could replace urushi. It's really hard to get foodsafe epoxy to cure as hard as urushi, though I did eventually get one I was happy with. But the wheat flour in the traditional material pulls the shards together as it dries, and gives just an incredibly tight and strong bond that can really hold up to actual use of the restored vessel. Epoxy always weakens and fails after a while, while I have urushi/wheat/clay pieces that have been in daily use for years. Depending on your goals though non-foodsafe epoxy can work well. Thickened marine epoxy, for under-the-waterline boat repairs is rock solid for decorative items. I'm sure it's toxic af and I wouldn't want it anywhere near my food but it would be fine for a lot of the things people want to do kintsugi for. Cashew lacquer is also pretty cool. It's nowhere near as nasty as urushi and doesn't require a special environment for curing. If I were just getting into it now I'd probably start with that.