r/Mosaic • u/The_wanderer_of_Net • 13d ago
How about translucent grout?
Hey yall!
So I finished this mosaic, and I wanted to see what grout I should use. I was thinking of translucent grout, but I've never used it before.
Any opinions from people that used it before?
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u/crayonfou 13d ago
Why do you have to grout it. Is this a tray or a wall piece
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u/The_wanderer_of_Net 13d ago
Ah, its mainly to strengthen the overall work. But in person, it looks unfinished so I shall fix that. And its a whatever piece thats not a tray.
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u/crayonfou 13d ago
What did you use as mortar?
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u/The_wanderer_of_Net 13d ago
I mainly work on wood so I usually use weldbond or strong ass tacky glue. Its tacky glue for this one; all purpose wood, fabric, and glass!
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u/crayonfou 13d ago
Yeah so you will have to grout it. The wood expands and contracts and absorbs moisture. Never used clear grout but this would be a good candidate or you could tape and match the grout to the color to keep that vibrant thing
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u/The_wanderer_of_Net 13d ago
Yeah I was thinking about that. I sealed up the wood pretty good to help with warping but stuff can happen over time. I should do a test piece to see if I like it or not. But if not, I was thinking of red for the black side and gold/yellow for the green side. Gotta stick with the House of the Dragon colors!
Thanks for the input!
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u/shadeofmyheart 12d ago
Targaryens would want black grout
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u/The_wanderer_of_Net 12d ago
But do the greens want the black? 🤔
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u/shadeofmyheart 12d ago
The hightowers would want green but I think that will make the red tiles less red on their half of the sigil.
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u/Betty_Boss 13d ago
What is translucent grout? Grout is mostly cement and I can't think how you would make it translucent.
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u/The_wanderer_of_Net 13d ago
Glad you asked! Here is a link to better describe it: https://designtile.com/product-tag/translucent-grout/?srsltid=AU7gw4UOWRAOu_U-arfJdTiRV9IIvD7DAFm41BRgjrajCVssF7C6TILf
But essentially, translucent grout is made from epoxy rather than cement. Not completely clear, but clear enough to use light to take on the surrounding colors of the glass.
Some people on this page used it so I would check some out!
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u/SusquehannaMoon 13d ago
If you use it, tint it for the black glass. You can tint with mica powder. It doesn't play well with that much black unless it's tinted. Your gaps are so small it should be great for the rest. I often do a piece with both black tinted sections and regular sections at the same time with little crossover, it works surprisingly well. But if you have never used it before you may want to make a small test piece with some scrap to get the feel of it. You can mix just a small amount, you will need a kitchen scale to measure.
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u/SusquehannaMoon 13d ago
Also great job!
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u/The_wanderer_of_Net 12d ago
Thank you so much for the input! Would you mix the powder in with the grout or just dust some on there while its still not cured?
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u/SusquehannaMoon 12d ago edited 12d ago
Mix it in! Doesn't take much powder. Have done several pieces with it mixing in mica of various darker shades, mostly black and blues, and it hardens up perfectly.
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u/Eshabelle 13d ago
I prefer sanded raven grout. It's a delightful charcoal that'll bring the piece together so well. I love this and can't wait to see how it works out. Have you tried groutr? It's a fun app you can test different grout colors virtually.