Happy Crushing!

As many of you know, I am a fused glass artist - http://www.rwillisglassartist.etsy.com/ - and last year I came across this idea to create an inexpensive and productive way to make glass frit and thought I'd share it with you. The article is also posted in the blog at http://www.etsyglass.com/.

A friend of mine works at a local glass store, and she is always coming up with wonderful ideas. Well, her dad (an engineer) came up with this idea for a home-made frit maker. After seeing it, I made a quick dash to the Home Depot (Lowe's or Ace should have them too) so that I could make one for myself.

Materials from hardware store:

~ One 1-1/2" x 8" heavy lead pipe

~ One 1-1/2" cap

~ One 3/4" x 10" heavy lead pipe

~ Two 3/4" caps

From a glass supply company:

~ Glass Frit Sifter set (I love this set!!)

The coffee grinder just doesn't do it for me, and like many glass artists, I've been hammering the glass in plastic bags to make my frit. Now I just put my glass in the 1-1/2" pipe and use the capped 3/4" pipe to crush the glass. Then I poor the contents into the glass sifter set which separates the sizes of the frit. I then poor the frit into my 2-oz. storage containers (a gold-mine find at a local thrift store) or small zip-lock bags. The caps aren't flat, so I have to store the frit maker on its side. I'm sure you could flatten the cap. But, I'm not particular. I'm just thrilled to have this!

The weight of the capped 3/4" lead pipe makes it quick and easy for me to make my own frit, but to make the "crusher 3/4" pipe" even heavier I threw in some heavy fishing weights (a garage sale find). Rocks, lead balls, or anything else you can find to add some weight to it will work just as well.

:)

Happy crushing!