Hi Marcy,
thank you very much for your suggestion! I think your sculptural beads are great!
I used preheated vermiculite to cool down the beads, but the vermiculite cooled down faster than i expected it to. It makes sense to me that the breaking / cracking has to do with the different cooling rates of the thicker and thinner parts of the beads. Yesterday i made an other one and it cracked exactly where the thicker and thinner parts meet. I did notice that the ones who have survived until now (still have to batch anneal them), all have a shorter and thicker end of the leaf.
I looked for those crock pots in the Netherlands, but they are very expensive, gonna try a little frying pan instead. That will keep them warm! I'll let you know how i'm doing with these beads.
Greatings,
Nathalie
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