tiles-msg - 8/21/02

Period tiles and uses. Sources for tiles. Making them.

NOTE: See also the files: tiles-art, pottery-msg, plaster-msg, glues-msg, 
frescoes-msg, glasswork-msg, enameling-msg, tiles-bib.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have 
collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date 
back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These 
files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with 
separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes 
extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed 
to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make  
no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by the individual 
authors.

Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these 
messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at this time. 
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originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 20:38:05 EST
From: <Mercy67 at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Mosaic tiles

<< Does anyone have a good source or two for mosaic tiles?

 Ingvild >>

You mean the type to cut up, right?  You can find "seconds" at many Home
depot/tiling places.  Sometimes you can find them at good will extra tiles
that people made mug holders with.

I know of a glass place in the LA area that sells mosaic glass bits.  Really
cool.  Sometimes you can make deals with interior designers/tile people on
their bits.  I got some when I had my house fixed and asked for the extra
carpeting and tiles.  Contractors sometimes have extras too.

--Mercy


Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 10:12:14 -0500
From: "Gray, Heather" <Heather at Quodata.Com>
To: "'sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu'" <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: RE: Mosaic tiles

perusing the Internet:

http://www.mosaicmerc.com/
(Located in San Francisco area -- glass, including smalti and vitreous, and
tools)

http://www.mountaintopmosaics.com/
(Located in Vermont -- vitreous glass and smalti, basic tools, books,
advice)

http://www.pompei-mosaic.com/
(marble, but I'm not sure they sell the tiles -- they may only do the work
themselves for you)

http://hsgs.com/mosaic2.htm
(glass, comes pre-cut in 3/4" squares on an adhesive-backed sheet)

http://www.qualityimaging.globalcenter.net/mosaic.html
(non-period, but interesting.  You can have a photo put on tiles, which you
can then have framed.  Or I imagine you could put it on the wall
directly...)

http://www.mosaic-witsend.com/
(Florida - supplies, tools, books, classes)

http://www.mosaicart-cheek.demon.co.uk/
(Located in UK (Broadstairs, Kent) and Greece - supplies, kits, classes in
UK and Greece)

I did find a few sites that had marble tiles, but they seemed to be
primarily for flooring, and I don't remember enough about stone mosaic to
know if these are thick enough for use as small pieces.  If you're
interested, here's a couple of the sites:
http://nitcotiles.com/
http://www.chooseindia.com/vitco/index.htm
I think Home Depot sells marble tiles as well (that's a large home
improvement center chain -- I don't know if they are found everywhere).

I didn't include ceramic sources, because I didn't come across ceramic in
the bits of research I did back in college -- if someone has, I'd like to
know :)

Elwynne


Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 13:15:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Ioan verch David <lostboy_ioan at yahoo.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Mosaic tiles

A fellow by the name of Padruig, here in Northshield, does mosaics on
occassion and his method of obtaining small pieces from larger ones is
to put them in a sturdy cloth bag and whack away at them with a hammer
on concrete.  You don't get exactly sized pieces, but if you are careful
and pull out desirable pieces after every few whacks, you get a good
proportion of useable pieces with little waste.

Its a good way to work out some stress too :)

Ioan


Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 17:54:30 -0500
From: rmhowe <magnusm at ncsu.edu>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Mosaic tiles

Ioan verch David wrote:
> A fellow by the name of Padruig, here in Northshield, does mosaics on
> occassion and his method of obtaining small pieces from larger ones is
> to put them in a sturdy cloth bag and whack away at them with a hammer
> on concrete.  You don't get exactly sized pieces, but if you are careful
> and pull out desirable piece after every few whacks, you get a good
> proportion of useable pieces with little waste.
>
> Its a good way to work out some stress too :)
>
> Ioan
>
> --- SNSpies at aol.com wrote:
> > Thanks for the ideas on tiles, Mercy.  I would prefer not to have to
> > cut them
> > (another costly tool!) and am really looking for a source of small
> > square tiles ready for use.
> >
> > Ingvild

In period they were nippered or cut with a small chisel or a chisel
and small hardy. A hardy is a chisel that fits in a block of wood
or an anvil, providing the opposite fulcrum.

Get a book on Ravenna if you want to see blow away Mosaic work.
Little else compares with that in period.

These days I suppose a lot of the work could be done with a glass
cutter and a pair of tile nippers with carbide teeth. You could buy the
pair for about $20 at a home center.

As far as a source for really cheap tiles, try visiting your local
Habitat for Humanity. Ours has gobs of tiles left over from contractor
jobs. Not usually the brightest colors but they they are about $5 the
box. They're always selling what they don't want really cheaply.
They might have the mastic and grout too.

Magnus


Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 19:54:45 EST
From: <FalanMacF at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Mosaic tiles

Found a glass web page.
http://www.delphiglass.com
This place supplies Venetian glass titles. Tiles are 3/4 inch. Each sheet
contains 56 tiles and covers an area approximately 6 1/2" x 7 3/4".

Also they have mosic nippers which I have used on glass mosic, but I think
they are with carbide tips so can be used on title too.  Those lil nippers are
great.

Faolan


Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 20:21:37 -0500
From: rmhowe <magnusm at ncsu.edu>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Mosaic tiles

Okay, I'm having a slow day here so:

Roman Crafts by Donald Strong and David Brown is an accumulation
        of articles by specialists in various fields.
        ISBN 0 7156 0781 2. Published 1976 by Gerald Duckworth and
        Company, Ltd., The Old Piano Factory, 43 Gloucester Crescent,
        London NW1.

The Wall and Vault Mosaics article is by Frank Sear, British
        School at Rome, pp. 230-239.

The Floor Mosaics article is by David S. Neale, Ancient Monuments
        Inspectorate, Department of the Environment, pp. 240-252.
        Both have short bibliographies.

The Ravenna, Capital of Mosaic book is extremely well photographed
         in color. 160 pages. PB. ISBN 88-7193-325-7. My copy is
         1990, and it looks to be one of those very good books you
         get when touring some European cities. So I expect it is
         in print. Appears to be a multiple language edition in
         English. 262 photographs of the City. Publisher Italcards
         Editions, Bologna, Italy. Exclusive Rights For Ravenna:
         Cartolibreria Salbaroli, Via Gamba, Ravena tel. 0544/32032.
         Price was 12,000 Italian Lire. There is nothing lacking
         in the photographs. They're gorgeous. The famous mosaics
         of Justinian and Theodora are here, and most of the work
         is Byzantine in flavor.


Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 07:23:59 -0500
From: rmhowe <MMagnusM at bellsouth.net>
To: Becky McEllistrem <bmcellis at yahoo.com>,
   "- SCA-ARTS at listsvr.pca.net" <sca-arts at listsvr.pca.net>

Becky McEllistrem wrote:
> I'm interested in a study of mosaics both for SCA
> reasons and modern reasons.  However I'm increasingly
> amazed at the prices of mosaic tiles in local craft
> suppliers.  Does anyone have a good online supplier
> that they've bought from before?
> 
> I'm thinking mostly of glass mosaic tiles that are
> less than 1 inch but ceramic tiles would be OK too.
> 
> Rebecca

Here's my mosaic bookmarks file. I have not purchased from 
them yet. 

Mosaics and Glass Tiles   
http://www.aftosa.com/
http://www.alltherightangles.com/   
http://www.mosaicmerc.com/
http://www.animatile.com/mosaics/default.html
http://www.butlerscraftsupplies.com/   
http://www.eti-usa.com/   
http://www.carterglassmosaic.com/
http://www.dickblick.com/categories/mosaics/ 
http://www.delphiglass.com/index.cfm?page=homepage 
http://www.glassplace.com/Default.htm  
http://www.hannacroismosaics.com/
http://www.hotmosaics.com/
http://www.ladybughill.com/
http://www.mainlymosaics.com/
http://www.monstermosaics.com/
http://www.mosaicbasics.com/   
http://www.asprom.org/   
http://www.mosaicmercantile.com/
http://www.tabvlarasa.com/  
http://www.ladybughill.com/LinksPages/mosaic_supplies.htm
http://www.mosaicsupply.com/
http://www.mountaintopmosaics.com/
http://www.mosaicsupplies.com/
http://www.tilemosaics.com/
http://www.warner-criv.com/search.asp 
http://www.madeinfirenze.it/mosaico_e.htm
http://www.smashingtimes.com/
http://www.scsu.edu/sama/
http://www.mosaica.tv/
http://www.mosaic-witsend.com/

Maybe it'll inspire a few people.
A few of the sites are companies that sell their own creations,
but they are worth looking at any. The others sell materials
or are central places for Mosaics study and preservation.

Those wishing to use this on their websites are welcome to.
Enjoy

Master Magnus Malleus, OL © 2001 R.M. Howe
*No reposting my writings to newsgroups, especially rec.org.sca, or
the SCA-Universitas elist. I view this as violating copyright
restrictions. As long as it's to reenactor or SCA -closed- subscriber
based email lists or individuals I don't mind. It's meant to 
help people without aggravating me.* Inclusion, in the 
http://www.Florilegium.org/ as always is permitted.

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	tiles-msg	6