Brass Frit Tutorial - Page 4

sangell · #91 2011-02-21, 6:42am

Any one had any luck?

Moth · #92 2011-02-22, 5:42am

No boro sorry!

Was looking for something new to do last night so I jumped on the brass frit bandwagon for the first time. I didn't have any of the frit so I used a pair of shop scissors and cut the bristles off a brass brush I found in my hubby's tool box. LOL

Bead is still in the kiln--I only did one to see if it cracks or if I need to change anything. Will post later if it lived through the kiln.

Thanks for sharing this technique! I hadn't read the thread in a while before I played with this last night and didn't remember the part about 'don't put the brass right in the flame'. LOL Woohoo fireworks! yeah----don't do that

~~Mary

edited to add:
Well bummer. I took it out of the kiln and it looked awesome so I cleaned it up to take pictures and it started cracking right before my eyes as I was focusing the camera. Started out as one small crack between two bubbles then crazed out from there in a web of cracks. I must have used too much, but it looked ok at the time. Was my favorite frog of the night too.

Bobeche · #93 2011-02-22, 7:40am

Sorry about your bead

But, that must have been pretty cool to watch!

I will try the boro this morning & report back...

glassactcc · #94 2011-02-22, 8:05am

I did try boro and it did not work for me. The bubbles would not form. I think the glass is too stiff.

Mustang Dawn · #95 2011-02-22, 12:19pm

Thanks for trying it with boro Cynthia, that was my thought on it too.

Bobeche · #96 2011-02-22, 4:49pm

I tried with boro today as well. Here is what I found..... my brass 'frit' was a combo of brass & copper as it is what I had saved from my deburring of my pandora tubing. It did seem to work...the only trouble I had was that some bubbles got too big & kept coming to the surface and popping. This kept distorting the shape of my bead. So, I just kind of went with it and made the bead into a nugget shape and I think that worked out OK.

It's in the kiln annealing now, but I since I had to leave the house after I made it, I let the kiln cool & did checked it out when I got home. Seemed OK with no cracks. I think it might have worked out fine, bubble-wise if I had gone a bit slower - I was in a hurry & working hot. I'll probably give another go when I have more time if it's not too fugly

sangell · #97 2011-03-09, 6:15pm

Elise, Did you get pictures?

Eileen · #98 2011-05-26, 6:38pm

I have a bag that I think is at least 2 pounds given to me by someone who works in a foundry. He said it may have other shavings/dust in there too, not all brass.
We were discussing how to separate it out, and he brought me a dental "shaker" thing, but I couldn't tell if that was really working.
On a whim, I passed a strong magnet over the bowl, and it looks like all brass that jumped up to the magnet.
Any thoughts from anyone as to:
a/ what would happen if there was some aluminum in there with the brass?
b/ whether the magnet would be a good enough separator?
c/ anything else I may have forgotten?

ElementalsDesign · #99 2011-05-26, 10:04pm

Carbon steel would jump to the magnet (NOT something you'd want in your beads, I am guessing) ..aluminum and brass would not.
Works great to get the steel out (leftovers from the process which created the brass shavings no doubt). Not sure why there would be aluminum in there or how to get that out.. but the steel.. that you definitely want to remove.

Just my two cents.

~Rachel

Eileen · #**100** 2011-05-27, 11:01am

Hmmm, the brass jumped up, I'll have to try again. I wonder if it is bronze?
It is an aluminum foundry, so he said that there might be a little from previous jobs that was in the area when he did the "brass".

Maybe I'll just put a tiny bit under some clear just to see what happens. I'll run my ventilation, but also leave the door & other windows open while I do it just in case. I'm getting ready to go out for some PPP on making even beads, but I'll do that while I'm out there, no trying to make it pretty, just to see what it does.

Mustang Dawn · #**101** 2011-05-27, 11:10am

I would test it out. Just remember to keep it out of the flame. I have some clean stuff if yours does not work out

Eileen · #**102** 2011-05-27, 1:08pm

Dawn, thanks for the help. I think this might be working.

I tried it, and I think it made bubbles, but it is hard to tell for sure. One "fzzttted" & made me jump that escaped encasement on the side, and I stopped & grabbed the camera & took a shot then stuck it in the hot vermiculite. So if it makes it through cooling I'll check with a magnifying glass & a bit more time to see what happened to it all.
It did stick to the magnet, so I'm not sure why that is, but I took some pictures in case anyone knows what I've got, etc.
on the magnet after holding the magnet down to the frit in the bowl

what I scattered on the marver (ruler is metric)

the bead with what I take to be tiny bubbles, just a base of black, rolled in frit, then clear over the frit

Eileen · #**103** 2011-05-28, 9:51am

OK, I took the bead out of the crock pot a little bit ago, and I definitely have bubbles. I'm still mystified about what metal it is though. I'm guessing some type of mixture, brass & iron incuded?

Anyway, the bead did crack in one place, but the experiment was successful in that I learned that I can do bubbles with this bag of .... metal.

(the bead is black with clear, the colors are from the beads on the other mandrels in my hand and the color of my shirt)

Eileen · #**104** 2011-05-28, 5:43pm

OK, I took the beads off the mandrel just now, and that bead has more cracks than I thought, won't last long.

The turquoise & aqua one I did had just begun to form bubbles, and looking at it more closely I can see dirty looking stuff in there, so maybe it just isn't as noticeable against the black. I think I'll cut some brass of the little brushes I bought for my drill see what they do.

Mustang Dawn · #**105** 2011-05-29, 4:40am

Ellen it was a very pretty bead

These beads have to go directly into a kiln. I think you would lose most of them putting them into vermiculite due to the stress the bubbles cause.

Have a great Holiday Weekend!

Eileen · #**106** 2011-06-08, 4:21pm

The friend who gave me the shavings/frit/whatever came by with some more. I asked about it being magnetic, and he said it is actually manganese bronze. He said neither is magnetic alone, but the blend is magnetic.

So it isn't brass, but it still worked, so I'll be trying it again with the kiln running this time!

Jo Ann · #**107** 2011-06-08, 4:37pm

devardi glass sells the brass frit on their website.

Eileen · #**108** 2011-06-08, 5:06pm

But this is free!

He's brought me two bags of it now, sandwich bag size.

Mustang Dawn · #**109** 2011-06-08, 6:19pm

That will last you a very very long time. I like free too!

Eileen · #**110** 2011-06-08, 7:00pm

He also mentioned that he might have some copper with 4% silver. Has anyone ever tried copper? I've used the sheets to make shapes for inclusion, but not frit.

Tillie · #**111** 2011-06-15, 7:12am

Eileen, where are you in FL? I'd love to see those beads up close and also the frit up close.

Mustang Dawn · #**112** 2011-06-15, 11:45am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eileen

He also mentioned that he might have some copper with 4% silver. Has anyone ever tried copper? I've used the sheets to make shapes for inclusion, but not frit.

Copper works too it is just like the sheets

I'm not sure with the silver mixed in, it might muck things up a bit unless it is .995.

Eileen · #**113** 2011-06-15, 12:39pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tillie

Eileen, where are you in FL? I'd love to see those beads up close and also the frit up close.

Tillie, I'm north of Tampa 20-30 minutes. Where are you? Anywhere close enough to get together? The one with the black core now has definite big cracks, but it is still holding together (just sitting there) which makes me want to give it another try with the kiln waiting this time.

Eileen · #**114** 2011-06-15, 12:42pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mustang Dawn

Copper works too it is just like the sheets

I'm not sure with the silver mixed in, it might muck things up a bit unless it is .995.

Well he wasn't sure about the copper, but he's going to give me some if it works out. I was wondering about the silver but didn't ask a time frame. If he brings me some I'll be sure & test & report. I have a couple of rolls of stuff for cutouts, maybe I'll try to nip some tiny pieces & see what happens with some of that.

Tillie · #**115** 2011-06-17, 8:31pm

I'm down around Ft. Myers, but that's still close enough to get together every once in awhile! I can use all the help with my fledgling lampworking tries as I can get. I'll be back down there before the first of July. Maybe we can arrange to meet up after I get back home.

Eileen · #**116** 2011-06-17, 9:20pm

I think the FL Glass Dragons are meeting at the Morean Art Center's Hot Shop soon, so if not before maybe we can both attend that!

essiemessy · #**117** 2011-07-05, 8:30pm

Can't wait to give this a go. I'll be batch annealing also (most of the time, anyway), but I can't wait to see what happens anyway

Thanks Eileen - that little baggy and card came today as the loveliest surprise

Eileen · #**118** 2011-07-05, 9:11pm

One of the two I did without putting them in the kiln did crack, but it was still fun.

Mustang Dawn · #**119** 2011-07-06, 4:07am

Quote:

Originally Posted by essiemessy

Can't wait to give this a go. I'll be batch annealing also (most of the time, anyway), but I can't wait to see what happens anyway

Thanks Eileen - that little baggy and card came today as the loveliest surprise

If you are going to batch anneal try walking your beads out of the flame slowly. What I mean is take your time cooling your bead in the back of the flame before you put it into the fiber blanket. Some people call this flame annealing (I don't) but it might save a few of your beads before you can batch anneal them.

This past week I've been imploding brass frit and it is pretty cool

essiemessy · #**120** 2011-07-06, 1:06pm

Thanks, Dawn

Yep, I was looking to do that to see if it makes any difference, given what I'd read so far. A reminder never goes astray.

Ooh, would love to see how that imploding works out!