Time to use the kiln..

[alan]

Hi,

I have a Paragon SC2 kiln that came with the second hand kit I bought. I have never used it, but have made a beadable bottle opener for a friend so I guess I should anneal the beads to be on the safe side.

So my newbie kiln questions are...

Would I be able to put loads of beads in the kiln in 1 go - say 70?
They have been taken off the mandrels, so do I just stack them up in a pile?
Do I just place them on the bottom of the kiln?
Should I sit and watch it - in case it blows up!

Thanks

[Pauline]

Hi Alan
there have been several threads about this where there is loads of advice.  I personally make up bead skewers with old mandrels balanced on 2 racks but other people either pile them on the floor or place in a pyrex bowl.
I have never dared do that and like to have them all separate to avoid any risk of kiln kisses!!
good luck and don't forget to pick the batch anneal not garaging schedule

[Essex Girl]

Hi Alan,

I would be wary of putting your beads in a pyrex bowl.  The first time I used my brand new SC2 for annealing I did and the beads stuck together and the pyrex bowl!!  After a bit of experimenting and a call to Paragon I now have to run the kiln at 30 degrees cooler than the normal annealing schedules.  According to Paragon all kilns are different and need a bit of trial and error.

I would start by putting a few of the 'doesn't matter' beads in first to see what happens, and the mandrel idea sound like a good one.

[BeeBeads]

Hi Alan
I do the same as Pauline.  Old, bent, cut-down mandrels make excellent bead skewers.  I can manage to get loads in my SC2 using
the shelf and the floor, both covered with kiln paper.  Haven't had a mishap yet, touch wood!
If you are using silver glass make sure they are separate otherwise they can kiss each other!

I haven't used the Pyrex bowl method personally, I think it works for some, but I seem to remember some posts about someone ending
up with a big melted mess of beads so I prefer the skewer method.  It also allows you to put sets together on the same skewer
or spacers together which I find helpful when I come to clean the beads.

Good luck - it's exciting opening the kiln door and seeing all your annealed goodies!

[fionaess]

I stick all mine in a Pyrex bowl. 

[Blue Box Studio]

I've always batch annealed in a Pyrex bowl, never had a problem - and my kiln often forgets to stop at 520c and heads for 530c.  Would have thought if your kiln got so hot as to give you a melted pile in a Pyrex bowl, it would give you drippy beads in a kiln floor anyway?

[ajda]

The molten bowl might have been mine. I have a small kiln for travelling with a manual controller... and I have an unreliable memory... forgot to set an alarm while ramping up and by the time I remembered it was over 800C. Fortunately I always have a piece of ceramic fibre blanket protecting the floor. Normally I just put beads directly on that - not even sure why I was using the bowl in this case. Also I'd normally be more careful not to let silver and ivory (or other reactive ones) touch each other in the kiln, though unwanted reactions were the least of my problems here as you can see. I keep this little sculpture as a reminder of fallibility...

[marklaird]

Hi Alan,
I've got an SC2 and I skewer my beads and then use a rack I got from Tuffnells to get loads into the kiln.
Old 1.6mm Mandrels cut down to fit inside the kiln and I can get all my beads regardless of what mandrel they have been made on in.
Any cabochons go on the base of the rack to protect the kiln itself.
Regards
Mark

[oliver90owner]

Just remember that modern-day 'pyrex' is not the same as it used to be (a very long time ago).

[Zeldazog]

As I understand it, items manufactured in the US under Pyrex brand name, now owned by World Kitchen LLC are tempered soda-lime glass.

Items made outside of the US are still made from tempered borosilicate.

[Skyblue]

Alan, surely that bowl is a work of art and should be up for sale in a gallery somewhere ! If Tracy Emin can sell an unmade bed as art, imagine what you would get for your bowl !!!

[Nicknack]

Alan, surely that bowl is a work of art and should be up for sale in a gallery somewhere ! If Tracy Emin can sell an unmade bed as art, imagine what you would get for your bowl !!!

And the bowl isn't smelly, unlike that disgusting bed!

Nick

[Lotti]

When I used to batch anneal I used to use the skewer plan.  Fabulous bowl!