I discovered the word ‘frit’ this morning and it led me to something i’ve been searching for for a long time. Ground glass for grip in any color i can imagine that i don’t have to crush myself.
Craft glass is everywhere, but its not worth buying if i still have to crush and sift it. But this stuff… the Fine grit is what i end up with after sifting my own. I did some more looking and found that frit is really just silica and some other compound used to create the desired effect, then heated to form glass and ground up. In all the time i was looking for glass for grip, i never thought to mosey over to ceramics and glass blowing, i honestly don’t know where my mind was.
shits about to get sick up in here.
I was tiring of grinding my own glass and started trying different grip tapes. I tried clear MoB. I tried clear Black Diamond. I tried a roll of clear generic a while back. I’ve tried sprays like Lucid and a few other brands. They all just suck compared to poly and glass on a number of levels so I keep coming back.
Glass cleans easy (with a hose and plastic brush), can be easily reapplied after a good cleaning if it has worn down simply by brushing more poly and sprinkling more grit, and doesn’t detract in any way at all from top side artwork. It also lasts a little longer than even things like Viscious if its locked in with a couple extra top coats.
I need to listen to my gut more and quit wasting time with bullshit.
BTW clear mob and clear black diamond are the shit on white boards or boards with light woods or light stain colors. The further you move from whites and bamboos and nudes though the closer it gets to crap.
i have clear mob, the finer grit black mob, and clear black diamond, all on 60’ rolls. As soon as i get home i’m cutting 4’ strips and taking pics and listing them.
I found a company in Arizona that has 1lbs or 5 lbs of recycled glass in 80mesh or 30mesh for sale. I use it on my custom builds and it works great you are able to see anything under it even the wood grain.
No, I saw it, but i couldn’t bring myself to pay $35 for a pound of glass. If the frit is to irregular though i may try it.
I just bought a pound of crystal clear frit for $14, and also got some 5oz sizes of several opalescent colors.
@briman05 how regular/clean is it? IT looks great on your board but did you have to do anything to clean or sift it before you use it or was it pretty prestine? also, link me.
The 30 mesh is a little rough and I have had some stuck in my hand when I’m first applying it. What I do it put several coats of spar urethane down between the glass and the deck. Then a wet layer sprinkle the glass on where you want and how much you want let it dry and then do a coat of spar over it and it’s good. If you want to put more you can. To me the 30mesh is about as course as blood orange grip
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