What is Frit?

Fused glass pieces usually begin with large pieces of glass, cut to a specific size or pattern.  The finished products can be large or small.  Sometimes the flat pieces of glass can be enhanced with the use of a little frit – small 3D pieces of glass. 

The top photo shows some examples of frit and a completed item using frit.  The close up of frit on the right shows the various sizes that are available for purchase.  Moving from left to right the frit is sized as coarse, medium and fine.  The variety of sizes allows for a variety of uses from decorative to highlighting a feature or effect needed in the pattern.

Just beyond the 3 bottles of frit in the top photo is a container of scrap pieces from one of my projects.  These pieces were just the right shade of green to complement the green handkerchief vase on the far right.  But the scrap pieces were too big for the project.  It would take a LOT of work to use the glass cutter to cut them into bits, but a frit cannon does the job quickly.  Our son heard of the need and welded us a homemade frit cannon that efficiently and safely shatters the larger pieces.

The finished vase, or candle holder, is shown up close on the left. This photo shows a close up of the frit on the entire scalloped edge, giving a little extra dimension to the project.  We have vases in an array of solid colors with complementary frit edging, but we are now looking at mixing some colors of frit for the border for a completely different look.

Let us know if you have questions, or what a specific colored handkerchief vase by emailing here or contact us on Facebook.