Looking for Annealing Program Help
 

After a long break away from the torch I am back at it! Rather than have someone else anneal my beads I am wanting to go ahead and use my ceramic kiln to batch anneal my beads.

It is a Paragon 18" octagonal kiln that stands about waist high with a computerized controler that can be programmed. I have used it primarily for ceramics in the past with a few foray's into slumping glass.

What I am looking for is a guide to program the kiln to anneal Moretti glass. I can figure out the programming on the controller using the directions I just need some guidance on how long at what temp to set it for.

I thought I had seen a tut on here or somewhere for it...and thought I had printed it out, but I can't find it!

Anybody know where to find it?

Much thanks in advance!
Sharon

Annealing schedules seem to vary a bit for soft glass depending mainly on who you learned it from I think, so you will get a variety of opinions on this. One thing I've noticed though is that most of them seem to work just fine so I don't think there is really a "one true and correct" way to do this.

I make large beads so I feel better garaging my beads a bit higher than other people seem to. I garage at 970F°. I anneal at 980F° for 1 1/2 hours. Then down to 850F° (over a 20 minute period) and hold there for 15 minutes. Then down to 700F° (over a 20 minute period). The kiln shuts off at this point and cools down slowly.

Annealing schedule voor Moretti glas, it's in Celcius

Step 1: In 222 degrees/hour to a temperature of 521 degrees. Hold that temperature for about 30 minutes.
Step 2: In 45 degrees/hour nto a temperature of 454 degrees. Hold that temperature for about 15 minutes.
Stap 3: Kiln off.

In this book:

The Complete Book of Glass Beadmaking
from Kimberley Adams

There is a schedule in Fahrenheit.

Sharon is asking about batch annealing so she will need a schedule for a slow ramp up to the correct heat.

I have a batch annealing schedule for boro, but I think that would probably shatter soft glass, then turn it to goo. :biggrin:

If anyone has a batch schedule for soft glass, I'm sure my wife would like it too.

I ramp up from 0-980 degress over a three hour time span. I use 980 or 1030 because I also batch anneal Messy and ASK colors. If just using Moretti I would ramp up to 950 or 960 degrees.

The soaking period is not the annealing part. The annealing part is ramping down slowly through the stress temperature range of that brand/color of glass. I am not really sure what 'soaking' does, but until I do know for sure I added it in..:-s


Ramp down slowly through the stress temps from 980 or 950 whichever you choose to 880 degrees 1 hour, hold 15 mins, 880 to 780 1 hour, hold 15 mins. 780 to 680 1 hour, hold 15 mins and 680 tp 580, hold 15 mins. then it goes off, and cools overnight by itself.

My beads are small...maybe up to 18mm. This is maybe a conservative schedule but it works as I also use Messy and ASK and sometimes they are all fussy if used together.

Everyone has a different recipe....kinda like potato salads...everyone tweaks theirs to suit themselves. \\:D/

I think Arrow Springs has some very good reading on annealing.
Lorraine

Paul, I use this schedule for batch annealling for glass with a Coe 104. It works fine with me. The only thing that perhaps isn't not so fine, is for Sharon that my schedule is in Celsius.

But with the schedule itself is nothing wrong!

I have looked it up in the book The Complete Book of Glass Beadmaking written by Kimberley Adams.
She said that cooled beads can also be annealed to a temperature of 970 F and that this should take no less than 30 minutes. And then the schedule I mentioned. 454 Celsius is 850 F.

[QUOTE

The soaking period is not the annealing part. The annealing part is ramping down slowly through the stress temperature range of that brand/color of glass. I am not really sure what 'soaking' does, but until I do know for sure I added it in..:-s


Lorraine[/quote]

The soak is just to make sure that the glass is at the same temperature all the way through.
Jim

Sorry Jim but the 'soak' is the annealing part, this is when the glass is brought to the same temperature all the way through and all stress removed. The ramping down part is just an attempt to cool the glass to ambient temperature without creating too high a thermal gradient in the glass and thus inducing new stress. Both steps are equally important, the slow ramp should be maintained untill 'strain point' is reached after which the kiln can cool at a much faster rate as no further permanent stress can be induced there will however be temporary strain which will balance out as the glass comes to room temperature.
happy glass working folks, Bernard

Thank's everybody!!

Converting C to F is not a problem...learned that in Nursing 101!

Wish me luck! Updates after the weekend

Annealing
 

Hi everyone, for those that do not know what annealing is, here goes:
annealing is a process of bringing glass up to one temperature and leaving it there for a period of time and then cool down slowly. The cooling down is the annealing part. The soaking part is a constant temperature so that any mix of glass can come up to the same temp and then cool down. Glass of COE 104 usually needs 960 to 970 degrees, with a soak of 30 minutes, and then slowly cool down to 400 over a 4 or 5 hour period and then shuts off and cools down to room temp. Hope this helps. :)

This is an older thread but it had some great info in it. I never got back to it to say thank you to Jim and Dragoneyes. THANKS!!!

I wondered what "soaking was"?

I have read lampworkers say many times that they anneal the beads at 960 for 1 hour then ramp down slowly.

I always felt this was wrong terminology as the ramping down through the stress zones of a particular COE was the "annealing process" as far as I know and NOT the soaking period no matter what temp or for how long..

So here is the thread revived for more discussion in the world of lampworking.

Lorraine