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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

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  #1  
Old 2012-11-02, 10:34pm
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Default How many beads in batch anneal?

Hi everyone!

I just tried out my kiln yesterday. It's a manual and quite large. It is a MAC kiln, firebrick lined and stackable, used for glass or test ceramic pieces. It has a bead door which I used to stack the mandrels with the test beads on.



Testing went good. So now, I have 100's of beads to put through. All 104, only a little silver or specialty glass. The beads are small to medium small. If it is heavily kiln washed with a ceramic blanket on the bottom is it okay to just pour them in? Is there a rule of thumb about how many beads at one go?

Thanks!
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  #2  
Old 2012-11-03, 12:35am
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Try a test annealing schedule as well to be safe. Some kilns if they run a little hot, can tack fuse touching beads together. On the odd occasion when I batch anneal I tend to lay the beads out 1 layer thick. The size of the largest bead should dictate how long you anneal for. There's a formula somewhere for how long you should anneal for per inch/cm of glass'

If you pile the beads on top of each other you need to consider that in terms of thickness for how long you anneal the beads for.
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  #3  
Old 2012-11-03, 1:54am
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The cleaned beads are placed on a ceramic fiber blanket to fill the kiln. They are placed so that they to not touch just in case. Some fill a stainless steel bow and anneal away. But have not tried that procedure.

"Contemporary Lampworking" by Bandhu Dunham has a nice chapter on annealing plus some easy to follow charts.
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  #4  
Old 2012-11-03, 7:34am
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I use a big Pyrex bowl. Stainless steel left rust like spots on some of my beads. Try a lower temperature and longer soak time. 925 degrees for 1.5 hours, and a second 30 minute hold at 840, with a slow ramp down. I ramp up full out when I have a bead to repair. I don't batch anneal as a rule.
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  #5  
Old 2012-11-03, 9:06am
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I used to string the cleaned beads on 1/16th mandrels that I suspended between little blocks of kiln brick. Didn't have the beads touching each other. I only did it once or twice, but it worked fine.
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  #6  
Old 2012-11-03, 9:46am
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Thanks everyone a bunch for the feedback. I have some better ideas how to proceed now and dig away at this pile. Fun to play with them anyway...

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Kristin ~

Last edited by KJohn; 2012-11-03 at 9:48am. Reason: sig
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  #7  
Old 2012-11-03, 9:29pm
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as someone told me awhile back here at LE.....put down a fiber blanket in the kiln and pile them in. And that is what I did. They were touching each other, some probably on top of each other. They all came out perfect.
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  #8  
Old 2012-11-03, 10:40pm
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Hi Pixie. Yes, that's kind of what I had in mind, but I wasn't sure if there were some experiences with that good or bad. Especially since it's a manual, I didn't want to dink around more than I had to. Thanks, I think this will turn out all right.

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  #9  
Old 2012-11-04, 6:57am
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Just curious. Is the controller broken? You said it's manual, but the kiln in the picture has a digital controller.
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  #10  
Old 2012-11-04, 9:30pm
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Hi Shawnette, I know...I haven't taken a photo of mine. The pic was a stock photo I used in another thread, but mine is manual. I just wanted to show the size, if that made a difference in how I wanted to batch anneal...Thanks for looking in


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Last edited by KJohn; 2012-11-04 at 10:52pm.
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  #11  
Old 2012-11-05, 7:14am
28676bhe 28676bhe is offline
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I have an unglazed pottery bowl that I made, and I pile it totally full when I batch anneal.

900 to 940 is where I usually anneal, and that is waaaaaay below the softening stage of 104, 96 and 90. As long as your kiln is accurate and reliable, there's no reason to lay them all out in one layer.

Barbara
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  #12  
Old 2012-11-05, 12:07pm
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Thanks Barbara!

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  #13  
Old 2012-11-19, 10:32am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 28676bhe View Post
I have an unglazed pottery bowl that I made, and I pile it totally full when I batch anneal.

900 to 940 is where I usually anneal, and that is waaaaaay below the softening stage of 104, 96 and 90. As long as your kiln is accurate and reliable, there's no reason to lay them all out in one layer.

Barbara
Would a pyrex bowl work instead ??? Like a corelle bowl?
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  #14  
Old 2012-11-19, 9:44pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bead Trixx View Post
as someone told me awhile back here at LE.....put down a fiber blanket in the kiln and pile them in. And that is what I did. They were touching each other, some probably on top of each other. They all came out perfect.
This is what I do as long as I am absolutely sure the temps are correct. A little two hot and they'll stick or get marks from the fiber blanket.

Always use kiln wash, paper of blanket. I have had a few meltdowns and the glass will stick to the bare firebrick and it's NOT a good thing.
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