Frit Tinting Tests

This is a frit-tinting test. All the clear used was System 96.

I tested four colours, Black (G50FP), Crimson (G178FP), Olive Green (G31FP), and Gold Brown (RW215#2) as well as clear.

The three clear test were as follows:

1. 45g clear furnace pellets.
2. 40g clear frit made from blowing furnace.
3. 23g clear powder, very fine. (This is 23g because it was so fluffy that I couldn't fit more than 23 g in the mold.)

The colour tests were as follows for each colour:

1. 1g colour, 39g clear frit, this is 1/40 colour
2. 2g colour, 38g clear frit, this is 1/20 colour
3. 4g colour, 36g clear frit, this is 1/10 colour
4. 10g colour, 30g clear frit, this is 1/4 colour
5. 16g colour, 24g clear frit, this is 2/5 colour

I mixed the colour and clear by weight, and added some water, shook the mix so that the powder would evenly coat the frit, and poured it into the mold.

Here is a picture of the molds before firing:



These molds were fired in Kiln #5 on the following schedule:

1. 5:00 to 125 C
2. 15:00 to 150 C
3. 22:00 to 650 C
4. 27:00 @ 650 C
5. 27:01 to 875 C
6. 34:00 @ 875 C
7. 34:01 to 520 C
8. 43:00 @ 520 C
9. 61:00 to 390 C
10. 70:00 to 50 C

The kiln was fired at 13:00 on Wednesday December 9th, 2009.

Here are the results:



The black was very strong, it is relatively hard to tell the difference between 10% colour and 40% colour, and almost impossible to tell the difference between 25% and 40%.

In proportions above 25%, the gold brown reduced, showing greens and blues that were quite lovely, but definitely not brown.

The green and red stayed true to colour, and there is noticeable difference between each of the different ratios of colour to clear. When there was less colour, the colouration was less even, most of the pigment concentrating in one place in the test.

For the clear tests, the pellet was almost clean, the frit had quite a few bubbles, and the powder was white and almost opaque.

The pictures associated with this firing can be found here:

Frit Tinting Test