is kiln annealing necessary

[rverk47]

hi i'm fairly new at lampworking but when i took my class i was told the kiln annealing was ideal but not necessary with simple small beads..another person told me that they should always be annealed because eventually they will break, even if it takes a few years..can somebody clear this matter up for me..
second question i may be looking for an annealer anybody know of a good one at a reasonable price, or possibly a used one???????thx

[MikeAurelius]

If you are going to sell your beads, then you must anneal them. It's just that simple.

[Sue in Maine]

What Mike said but as a beginner, you need to understand that when the glass cools from our lampworking, it cools too fast for the molecules to get into a comfy position to rest in for all times. The way they lie causes them stress. What annealing does is get the glass up to a magical temp. that allows the glass to relax at a molecular level. The kiln slowly cools, allowing these same comfy molecules to come to rest into shapes that make them happy... glass treated well will last a long time. Glass with stress ... nope, even temperature changes can set them off and cause them to break... sometimes with enough force to be dangerous (if they hit you in the eye for example).

Always always anneal.

Sue

[Kalera]

If you're just making beads for fun, don't bother, but if you're going to sell them, or sell jewelry made from them, annealing is a must.

I have beads which I made thirteen years ago, which are not annealed. I finally batch-annealed them three years ago because occasionally one of them would break. Just sitting in the box not being touched, the internal stresses would prove too much and it would quietly, spontaneously, split in two. None have broken since I batch-annealed them. These beads were all "flame-annealed" and slow-cooled in a vermiculite-filled wok.

Most of them didn't break. Some people might be tempted to use that as evidence that it's fine to not anneal small round beads, but the thing is, if you're selling them it only takes a few broken beads to ruin your reputation with a buyer, and all that buyer's friends. Beaders talk, and they do not hesitate to complain when they feel there's a bad seller or a seller with bad product. You sell someone fifteen sets, each containing nine beads, and two beads break a year later... in jewelry the buyer made and sold... and you have lost a buyer forever. They have to restring that jewelry for those customers, or risk losing customers themselves.

Handmade artisan glass beads are not low-end. If you are selling them for less than a dollar apiece maybe the buyers are willing to suffer some loss through breakage, but if you are charging the more typical rate of $3-$10 per bead, the buyers should be assured of no breakage down the road.

For a good low-cost annealer, check out the Chili Pepper.

[Cosmo]

If you can't afford a kiln right now, don't let that keep you from making glass. You can always cool them in vermiculite or a fiber blanket, and then anneal them later or have someone anneal them for you. Even a year down the road.

Just because a bead does not go into a kiln that does not mean it will break. The chances are much higher, but it is not inevitable. Slowing the cooling prevents cracking while they cool, but that is not the same as annealing.

Practice all you want Make as many beads as you can. Just anneal them before you sell them.

[rverk47]

thx for the info i appreciate it anybody know where i can find a used kiln??thx again for the advice..i will use it..