Using Glass Frit To Make Fused Art Glass Items
Ideas for using glass frit and powder during the glass fusing process
Glass frit is nothing more than crushed granules of glass, available in different sizes.
A very wide color selection is available in the frit range.
Frit is generally made in these sizes:
Powder
Fine
Medium
Coarse
Mosaic
It is available in COE 90, COE 96 and Coe 104 for fusing, and as per sheet glass the different coe's cannot be fused together.
Jewelry artists use it to produce molded cabochons and other jewelry items.
Frit is quite often fused into a piece of glass to produce patterns in glass jewelry pieces.
Frit is also used in combination with stringers and other small glass pieces to make frit paintings.
This technique requires a good eye and steady hands. A number of glass fusing kiln firings may be needed to produce a finished item.
It can be mixed to produce a large color palette; a small amount of frit powder can bring about significant colors changes when mixed with another color.
Mica powder can also be mixed with frit to make original fused glass designs.
It is advisable to test fire a small amount of newly bought frit as the frit will quite often fire to a darker color than what you expect.
Glass bead makers use multi-colored frit blends that can also be used by glass jewelry makers to produce very unusual fused glass jewelry.
Many art glass artists use various grades of frit in molds to produces different fused art glass items such as bowls, platters and specially molded figures and shapes.
A number of issues can arise when fusing frit in a mold as frit size will have an effect on the outcome.
Expect some shrinkage to occur during the fusing process, if the fusing temperature is too high then small sharp prongs may form on the top edge of the fused item.
The following conditions can be encountered with different frit sizes:
Fine frit can trap many small air bubbles during the fusing process, the finished piece may look opalescent even when using clear frit.
As you increase the frit size the quantity of bubbles will decrease and light will pass through the casting more easily.
A recent addition to the frit range has been the introduction of dichroic frit, available on a black or clear base.
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