Frit Tool Question

[mamabunting]

I am curious about a tool called a "Frit Maker" It is a tube container with a piston type plunger that is supposed to easily and safely make frit. Has anyone used this tool? I would love to play around with custom frit blends using all my assorted shorts. Is it worth the price(Around $80-$100 dollars) Is it easy to use? There are also Sifter accessories to separate the the frit into Powder, Fine, Medium and Coarse grinds. Worth while or not?
Thanks Avery

[rverk47]

i bought a small one on ebay for $30..it works but i don't like it because it breaks up the glass in all different sizes, some way too big and some way too powdery..i guess you could take the time to separate it..if your willing to separate it, it works pretty good..i would rather buy it..let me know if you want to try this one out, i'll sell it to ya for $15..hope that helps..

[Dennis Brady]

Originally Posted by mamabunting

I am curious about a tool called a "Frit Maker" It is a tube container with a piston type plunger that is supposed to easily and safely make frit. Has anyone used this tool? I would love to play around with custom frit blends using all my assorted shorts. Is it worth the price(Around $80-$100 dollars) Is it easy to use? There are also Sifter accessories to separate the the frit into Powder, Fine, Medium and Coarse grinds. Worth while or not?
Thanks Avery

How good they are depends on the user and the amount they use them. I can tell you that we sell a LOT of both Frit Makers and Sifter/Sorters. It takes just minutes to smash up scrap glass and sort it into various size grits.

They're $75 each or $125 for the set.
http://www.vicartglass.com/products/masterartisan.htm

[bexrox]

I bought the same tool as Renee for the same price, and it definitely does the job - I always use a hammer, even though it says grinding by hand is an option. To me, that's just too labor intensive! Like Renee states, you get a lot of big chunks that require some more smashing, and lots of powder, and everything in between, so be prepared to sort. That would likely be the same with whatever technique you used, I'm guessing. I bought mine with the intention of making lots and lots of frit, but I've only made a bit. I'm thwarted by the sorting part! That being said, I don't have the sifters, but I might make more frit if I did... Hmmm, my b-day's coming up. Maybe I'll drop hints at my family. If you're curious though, Renee's fritmaker offer sounds like a good one!

Becky

[yeepers]

If you look around there are tons of cheap sifters to be found in housewares sections of stores...dollar store...etc.

I combined a bunch of sifters with different mesh sizes and just use those to sort. I have one hand held sifter with fine mesh, a couple of sink strainers with medium to larger mesh.

No need for specialized sifters You can find similar solutions all around you!!!

[Cosmo]

It works fine if you make a lot of frit. I use a lot of frit, I have a frit crusher, and I never use it. Too much work for me...

[scoutycat]

You can make one pretty easily for about 10$ if you want, there a tut somewhere I think. There is some messing around with sifting, getting metal out with a magnet etc. For little bits, it's easier to make a paddle, heat it & dunk it in water then drain & sit it on your kiln to dry.

[nitefire]

My Dh made this one for me. It's all steel, sorta heavy but dose the job. If you know someone that welds, i,m sure they could make one for you.

Elaine

[Dragonfly Queen]

Can you show the piston part that actually crushes the glass. I am trying to get my DH to make me one so I would like to see how your DH made the piston part.
thank you.

[Eileen]

Since this is an old thread, I can take a picture of the one my hubby made me if you want. He just screwed on a cap on a piece of threaded pipe I think.

[eregel]

I bought the Aanraku Frit piston and sorter set from Delphi glass - I think they were around $45 each. I love them - I DID use dollar store strainers for awhile, and ended up buying the sorter set. Partially because I'm planning on offering frit for sale, and wanted to have recognizable sizes, but also just for the ease of use. INCREDIBLY therapeutic pounding frit with it - and in the quantities I make it, a tremendous upper body workout, too. LOL

[Dreamsincolor]

My frit maker was a gift from my DH. He mounted a garbage disposal in the lid of an unused 5 gallon bucket. I put the bucket in the laundry type deep sink and run water through the disposal unit as I feed it chunks of glass. It makes mostly size 1 and some size 2 frit with a bit of powder at the bottom. I let it sit in the water for a little while so that the powder can settle. I run a magnet through it, but I've gotten almost no metal debris since the disposal blades are pretty tough. After pouring off the water I spread the frit in a pan and let it finish drying in a dedicated toaster oven in my studio. The last step is sifting it, but since most of it is pretty close in size it's a matter of dividing it into frit or powder. It makes just enough noise to wake the cats from a nap, but a LOT less than it would without the water...LOL

Andrea

Pat, how goes the retirement?

[SerendipityArtGlass]

Originally Posted by Dreamsincolor

My frit maker was a gift from my DH. He mounted a garbage disposal in the lid of an unused 5 gallon bucket. I put the bucket in the laundry type deep sink and run water through the disposal unit as I feed it chunks of glass. It makes mostly size 1 and some size 2 frit with a bit of powder at the bottom. I let it sit in the water for a little while so that the powder can settle. I run a magnet through it, but I've gotten almost no metal debris since the disposal blades are pretty tough. After pouring off the water I spread the frit in a pan and let it finish drying in a dedicated toaster oven in my studio. The last step is sifting it, but since most of it is pretty close in size it's a matter of dividing it into frit or powder. It makes just enough noise to wake the cats from a nap, but a LOT less than it would without the water...LOL

So does the disposal eject the water into something in the sink or eject into the 5 gallon bucket. This sounds really cool. Would you post a pic?

[DesertDreamer]

DH made me a cheapie from a few pieces of threaded pipe and cap ends. One piece fits inside the other and you just pound it a few times....or insert it and use a hammer for a few good whacks. I use rod shorts, heat them in the kiln then drop them in water so they crackle. A whack or two with the pipe pieces and they're well and truly fritted.

[Dreamsincolor]

Serendipity, the disposal is mounted in the lid and the water passes through to the bucket. It sits in the sink so that water can feed into the disposal, because it's a good working height and it makes it easy to pour off the water. You can pour water from a pitcher to process. It cost about $30 for the disposal and a few bucks for the bucket at a hardware place. It plugs into a regular outlet at the sink. I've been using it for 6 years and it's just as sharp as ever. If you want to do big chunks they process better if you heat them in a kiln and drop them into ice water first. However you make frit from the pieces they break up a lot more evenly if they are heated and chilled that way. The biggest reason DH made it for me is that he felt this method would minimize the risk of dust since it was all done with water.

Andrea

[SerendipityArtGlass]

I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for a garbage disposal. I have plenty of 5 gal paint buckets with lids. Thank you.

[swamper]

When I want a little bit of frit, I use the coffee bean grinder that I bought just for this purpose...be warned, if you grind too long, you will have powder.....$10