The annealing temperature for Effetre/Moretti is a range of 940 to 968. I anneal at 968. The rule of thumb that I was taught was 15 minutes at annealing temperature for every 1/4 inch thickness of the bead. If your kiln holds the temperature well (doesn't go over annealing temperature) you don't need to worry about soaking too long, so judge your annealing time according to your largest bead. If you're putting beads in the kiln straight from the torch, rather than batch annealing, calculate your annealing time from the time that your last bead goes into the kiln (unless you put a big honking bead into the kiln and then made a little bitty one right away -- you have to make sure your big honking one had enough time, too). After your beads have had their soak at the annealing temperature, they need to cool down slowly to the strain point, which is 840 for Effetre/Moretti. I have my kiln programmed to take 2 hours to go from 968 to 800 or so, then it shuts off and cools the rest of the way by itself.
If you're batch annealing (putting cold beads into the kiln), you need to ramp the temperature up slowly, too. I almost never batch anneal, so I'm not all that comfortable recommending a ramp-up speed. It will depend on the size of your beads, too. I'm sure someone else will jump in with a suggestion.
__________________
To those who question the real value of the Web: Sea slugs. Now, please fall into a respectful silence, and don't speak again until you understand why you were wrong.
Scorpion and one Intensity 10 lpm 20 psi concentrator
|