Frit

Frit

Frit is glass that is in a crushed form. Frit varies in size from quite chunky pea sized pieces to sandlike consistancy.

Frit is larger than powder but smaller than cullet glass. Available in all commonly used artistic glasses, frit comes in most colors, as well as clear. Most of the major suppliers of soft glass and borosilicate glass sell frit grade glass in a variety of grades.

Application of frit can be done on the surface of a piece or on the inside of a tube if a hollow vessel is being formed. Care should be taken to fully fuse the frit if applied to the inside of a tube. Many frits are made with highly reactive colors, and will want to reduce upon application, working in the back of a good oxygen rich flame helps keep these colors stable untill they're fully fused into the surface of the glass.

Frit is usually made through a mechanical crushing operation, but can also be made by rapidly cooling hot glass in water. For small quantities a cheap thrift-store variety electric coffee grinder makes frit out of any color or combination of colors the artist needs. Commercially the frit is graded by size through a stack of sorting screens. In the studio you can sort the larger frit from powder with a kitchen strainer.

Frit should be kept away from children and never inhaled.

we need pictures.

--GreymatterGlass-66 21:34, 16 January 2007 (EST)