Annealing borosilicate days after working it

[johndavid400]

Hello, I am very new to lampworking and have a question.

how necessary is it to anneal borosilicate/Is it likely to break if not annealed?

My mom has a nice large kiln at her office and she rarely uses it, so I would have access to it whenever I need it, but it is 45 mins away from my house (and where I do my lampworking). I have made several small glass pieces just playing around that have not broken... but before I try anything difficult, I need to know if I can anneal a borosilicate piece several days after I finish it? I cannot move my shop to kiln, and she will not let me move the kiln... so if I cannot do this, I will just have to buy my own kiln.
Anyways, this would save me some $$ if it is possible.

thanks,
jd

[Tanner Studios]

Hey JD, Your missing the boat when it comes to Boro. The answer to your question is yes and no. A kiln is as important as the torch. What I mean by missing the boat is, some colors just need to strike in the kiln when they are formed. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this. But I don't thinK you can get the same colors from batch annealing as you can from growing the crystals at the point of origin IE fresh from the torch and into the kiln.
JMO
Scott

[Maui Greenstone]

scott,
You are kinda wrong about the striking. Actually best striking occurs if you let the piece cool then ramp it back up to like 1175.
As far as annealing goes. I anneal everything as I make it. I'm working a bit bigger than average but imo you should anneal everything because there will be stress in the glass if you haven't heated the whole thing evenly. Also if your connections and welds aren't perfect you are just asking to have the piece break from stress when it cools. You can batch anneal small stuff but even without the kiln I would cool your pieces either in a fiber blanket or vermiculite so there is less chance of them breaking before you get to anneal the whole batch. If you are making functional pieces i.e. pipes or goblets you REALLY should anneal lest you put your customers at risk. let me know if you have more questions about your boro. I would be happy to help in any way I can.

Aloha!!

John

p.s. you can also flame strike alot of the striking colors too

[Tanner Studios]

John, We're on the same page when it comes to annealing. But what do you mean by this statement ?

"Actually best striking occurs if you let the piece cool then ramp it back up to like 1175."

What does cooling entail? slightly, or a day later. or some where in between. I'm not saying this to confront or be a smart allic . I really want know.
Scott

[Mr. Smiley]

As long as it cools below glow, it doesn't matter if it's a minute or 2 months. It will still strike when reintroduced to a striking temp in the kiln.

I put amber purple pieces in that are unstruck and room temp into a hot kiln to strike... the results are the same.

[johndavid400]

Thanks for the replies, I have yet to work with colored boro... so the color aspect of firing a piece is probably a few months out for me. I was asking in terms of strength and resistance to break.

I haven't made any thick pieces yet.. mainly just trying to fix broken pieces and playing.

thanks for all the help,
jd

[Shane]

So from what I've read I can't anneal boro in a Chilli Pepper, is that correct? It's highest setting is 1100.

Would it be possible to anneal at a lower setting for a longer time?

[nagibeads]

~1050F is annealing temp for boro so you are ok to anneal in the Chili Pepper

[Kalera]

Originally Posted by Shane

So from what I've read I can't anneal boro in a Chilli Pepper, is that correct? It's highest setting is 1100.

Would it be possible to anneal at a lower setting for a longer time?

You can anneal just fine, but you may have trouble kiln striking.

[Mr. Smiley]

I use a Chili every day almost. It goes up to striking temp just fine for me.

[Shane]

Sweet! Thanks for the info, I was already debating on selling the little bit I had.

ETA: You were typing as I was Mr Smiley, what schedule do you use on your Chilli if you don't mind me asking?

[Mr. Smiley]

My magic temp for striking silver colors is 1075-1085... but not every thermocouple is the same. I've had mine up to about 1250 according to my controller... no melt down issues. I figure they can't rate it too close to what's safe.

[MadelineBunyan]

oooh so helpful.... I have taught myself everything I know about boro, Ive been able to read very little until I found this place, only the booklet on gail crossman moore by jim kervin(which is brilliant)

thankyou people, even if it wasnt my question!

Madeline