[DewDropped]

Some members in my group went to a Japanese workshop not too long ago and the instructor had some vermiculite type annealing beads that he used to anneal his beads. Supposedly this is how all Japanese beads are annealed? At least that is what I have been told. If you look at all your Japanese books, you see a tray with small balls in them. It looks sort of like styrofoam balls, but it is not. It is also not vermiculite. This is obviously used for satake glass, but I was told you can anneal regular 104 glass in it as well and it will anneal properly the same as if in a kiln? It retains heat a lot better than a fiber blanket or vermiculite.

My electric bill skyrockets to about 400 in the summer and I want to save some money and batch anneal. If I used this medium to anneal, would I have to anneal it later on in a kiln, or would it be just as stong as if I had annealed it directly from the kiln? Boy this would definitely save me money AND time. My kiln takes awhile to heat up.

My question....I want to buy some. Where do I find this miracle annealing medium? I'd love to find out where to purchase it and also some feedback from any members who have used it themselves and their opinion of it.