[Speedslug]

I have found that almost all the frit sold is 96 coe so you will have to try to limit the ratio to less than 10 percent when your glass rods are 104 coe.

You will find that transparent glass of the same coe is often much stiffer even when up to melting temperatures than most opaque glass.
White is notorious for being almost water runny when melted.

And some colors will actually sink into white and disappear on you.
In those cases you can build a core of some stiffer transparent and encase it in a thin layer of white then then put the sinking color on top of that to keep it from sinking in too far.


Using other colors inside as a base can give you a core of less expensive colors so you can stretch the more costly glass on to more beads without hiding so much of it on the inside where it will never get seen.
I do that with the striking silver colors that I "just had to have" even though they cost an arm and two legs.