Another newbie question

[scubaguy]

Hi All,

As most of you know who have had the joy of my past posts
lol, I am so new to this that this weekend will be my first time at a torch.
My question is this : How critical is it to have a kiln when you first start out? Is annealling using a thermal blanket a good start. I know its not really anneallling and I dont plan to sell any bead for quite a while. Will probably be making just a step above junk for the first while or a lest a couple of years whichever comes first.

Now this might be a really stupid question.
If I dont anneal can I reuse the glass , like from the ones I really f@#$up or is that peice of glass nothing more than a really small paperweight

Any advice is welcome
Brian

[Sue in Maine]

Cooling your beads in a fiber blanket is okay but it is NOT annealing. What you're doing with your fiber blanket is allowing the beads to cool (hopefully) slow enough and (hopefully) evenly enough that the beads do not thermal shock and break while they are cooling.

To help insulate your fiber blanket even further, cover your fiber blanket with aluminum foil the same way you did your high school books-- use duct tape and AVOID letting any of the beads touch the tape-- melting tape stinks! (This was a tip I got from LE.)

It is CRITICAL to AT SOME POINT anneal your beads. Do not sell/give away any of your beads that have not been annealed. If they break, it gives us all a bad name.

Post where you live and you may find someone near enough to you that they will anneal for you.

Sue

[Dale M.]

Yes you can reuse the glass.... It melts just like before, has same properties as before (with/without stress), if nothing else you can even grind them up for frit....

Dale

[littlecrowartglass]

I second what sue said on annealing ...great advice

and no question is a stupid question...
keep your first beads.. no matter what they look like...string them and keep them so you can look back and see how far youve come

Have fun!!

[Elizabeth Beads]

With all dues respect to Dale, the problem I see with reusing the glass is that it will have bead release in it. Lots of glass is cheap enough, indulge yourself, use a fresh rod.

[Sheila D.]

Those first beads look great in an aquarium or flower bed too! Just make sure you clean them good if you're going to reuse the glass.

[Sheila D.]

Originally Posted by erose

With all dues respect to Dale, the problem I see with reusing the glass is that it will have bead release in it. Lots of glass is cheap enough, indulge yourself, use a fresh rod.

I agree.

[bshelle]

I used a fiber blanket for about eight months. I didn't have many issues with breakage, but these beads were for me, they were small, and I didn't sell or give them away. It wasn't worth buying a kiln at first because I wasn't sure if I would be good enough to stick to this (expensive) hobby for awhile.

In the future, hwoever, a kiln is so worth the investment b/c eventually you will be making bigger, nicer pieces and you'll want to keep them.

And yes, definately keep your first beads!!!

[Lorraine Chandler]

Make sure they are just cleaned of all the bead poo ( release) before reusing.

My beads are dremeled spotless, I hate seeing that stuff in a finished bead.

[Alaska]

Yes, one can live without a kiln and use a ceramic blanket. However, as others have pointed out these are for beads that will NOT be sold or given away. Just your practice beads.

Many batch anneal their beads in place of using a kiln on a daily basis. They place the beads with mandrels between two pieces of ceramic blanket. After cooling, remove the mandrels and clean out the bead release. Toss any broken beads, etc.

You may find that depending on what is torched that some beads crack and others do not. It is a matter of thickness, color and sometimes which color is placed next to another color. Some colors will crack if not immediately placed in a kiln and properly annealed at the end of the day.

When starting out only use colors that are not as heat sensitive. And if making beads keep the size down. The smaller the bead the less likely a crack will develop. And one can do a little flame annealing. While not true annealing it does seem to assist in decreasing breakage.

When you have a kiln any keepers can be properly annealed in a week, a month or years later.