Fusion Frit F-493

Alternate Names: Fusion Frit F493

Description: High lithium, high alkali frit

Oxide	Analysis	Formula
K2O	6.00%	0.10
Li2O	11.00%	0.59
Na2O	11.70%	0.30
B2O3	13.20%	0.31
Al2O3	6.30%	0.10
SiO2	51.80%	1.39
Oxide Weight		160.89
Formula Weight		160.89

Notes

This analysis was confirmed with Fusion Sept 2013. Excellent for replacing Spodumene in glazes (to eliminate its frothing and bubbling issues), this contains a higher percentage of lithia plus contributes other oxides that most glazes need. However it also has a very high thermal expansion.

This is an example of how much sense it makes to use a fritted form of a flux like lithia rather than the pure, and very troublesome, lithium carbonate. And it is fairly easy to do calculations (e.g. in your insight-live.com account) to substitute zinc in many existing boron fluxed recipes.

This should be more commonly available than it is. Volume users buy this by the pallet for their production, it's high cost amortizes down well considering the benefit it brings. A typical potter would be aghast at the price. Until he saw what this can do!

Related Information

Frits instead of raw zinc, lithium, barium, strontium

zinc, lithium, barium, strontium oxide powders

These materials have many issues. They can create problems in glaze slurries (like precipitates, higher drying shrinkage), cause issues with laydown density and produce fired surface defects (like pinholes, blisters, orange peeling, crystallization). Lithium and barium carbonates have toxicity issues and the carbon burns off during firing (with lithium, for example, 60% of its weight is lost). Yet the oxides that these materials supply to the glaze melt - ZnO, Li₂O, BaO and SrO can be sourced from frits (removing most of the problems and imparting better glaze melting). Fusion Frit F-493 has 11% LI2O, F-403 has 35% BaO, F-581 has 39% SrO and FZ-16 has 15% ZnO. Of course, these frits source other oxides (but such are common in most glazes). Using glaze calculation you can often duplicate the chemistry of glazes while sourcing these oxides from frits. This being said, using the frits is about achieving a quality and avoid defects over concerns about their extra cost. Often the benefits lower the overall cost of production.

Links

Materials	Frit Frits are made by melting mixes of raw materials, quenching the melt in water, grinding the pebbles into a powder. Frits have chemistries raw materials cannot.
Materials	Lithium Carbonate A powerful melter very valuable in ceramic glazes. It is 40% Li2O and has an LOI of 60% (lost as CO2 on firing). This material in now incredibly expensive.
Materials	Spodumene Spodumene is a lithium sourcing feldspar, an alternative to lithium carbonate to supply Li2O to ceramic glazes. Contains up to about 8% Li2O.
Typecodes	Frit A frit is the powdered form a man-made glass. Frits are premelted, then ground to a glass. They have tightly controlled chemistries, they are available for glazes of all types.

Data

Co-efficient of Linear Expansion	14.13
Frit Softening Point	1300F

By Tony Hansen
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