How to Anneal 104 Glass Beads
Annealing is the process of heating the beads to a controlled temperature that prevents your glass from getting stressed and cracked or broken due to uneven cooling. This process can be done in an annealing kiln especially made for glass beads. An annealing kiln will prevent thermal shock. Knowledge of making beads with a torch is required.
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Instructions
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Glass Annealing Kiln
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A kiln is a brick-lined oven that is designed to produce and retain high temperatures. Turn on your annealing kiln. Set the temperature to 940 (F) degrees. Use your operations manual for complete directions if you are not familiar with the kiln. Place your rod shelf in the kiln. This is the shelf that holds your mandrel that will have your bead on it. Close the door.
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Make your bead.
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Open your kiln door once you have completed the making of your bead.
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Place your bead that you have just removed from the flame in the kiln. Place the mandrel with the bead on it in the rod support and close the door.
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Set your kiln so that your beads will stay at the temperature of 940 for at least 30 minutes. You can't over-anneal so you can leave your beads in the kiln while you make more beads. Shut the kiln off and let the kiln cool down naturally. This can take an hour or more; then you can remove your beads.
Batch Annealing
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Batch annealing can be done in any kiln like a ceramic kiln if you do not have a glass annealing kiln. Batch annealing allows you to do a lot of beads at one time and over a period of time.
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Make your bead and place the bead in a fiber blanket and let the bead cool down. A fiber blanket is a high insulation fiber. It is used before batch annealing to prevent your bead from thermal shock. Make as many beads as you want. Place each bead on the mandrel in the fiber blanket. This can be done over a period of time, removing the beads after they have cooled down from the fiber blanket. Remove the bead from the mandrel and set them aside. Do this until you have a large batch of beads to anneal.
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Gather your beads and place them on an unfired bisque dish. This is an unglazed dish. You can also place your beads on the kiln shelf, but they do tend to roll around.
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Place the dish with your beads on the kiln shelf. Close the kiln lid and program the kiln for a temperature of 940 degrees and holding for 30 minutes. Check your kiln manual for firing instructions.
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Let the kiln cool down naturally. This will take over an hour depending on your kiln; then you can remove beads from the kiln. Your beads are now properly annealed.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit glass beads, image by Greg Pickens from Fotolia.com
