Another Question About Batch Annealing...

[EmbellishYourself]

Hi, I have a small Paragon Jewelry kiln. It is not big enough for me to put my beads in on the mandrel. How can I anneal them? I once saw a post where someone put all their beads in a pyrex measuring cup to anneal, won't they stick together? Can I take them off the mandrel and put them on smaller mandrels that fit inside? Will they then stick to the mandrels? Can I set them on a fiber shelf? Will that ruin them by adding texture? Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated. I have made alot of beads and have yet to anneal them. Thanks! Jenny

[WillfulOne]

Jenny, you can place them in the kiln without worry. When I first bought my kiln, I had a lot of beads that had not been annealed. Just put them on the bottom and follow the appropriate annealing schedule for the type of glass that you use. It will not get hot enough to change the shape or melt them together.

[Emily]

What Debbie said. If your kiln holds annealing temperature correctly, the beads shouldn't stick, deform, or pick up any texture from anything. Put them directly in the kiln, on mandrels, in a cup, whatever's convenient for you.

HOWEVER -- if you have beads that have enamel on the surface, don't let them touch other beads. Enamel has a lower melting point and will stick. People have also talked about trouble with rubino (gold pink, gold ruby) sticking to other beads. I haven't had a problem with it, but to be safe, I'd make sure any rubino beads aren't touching other beads. Carefully spacing them on a short piece of mandrel might work.

[EmbellishYourself]

Thank you both for your responses! I have been putting off annealing things because I thought it would be difficult. Now I know I don't have to worry about it! Jenny