Hello!
I am about to venture into using boro tubing for the first time. It'll probably be 10mm diameter with 2mm wall, or perhaps smaller.
I've been searching for info about annealing cycles and I read that I can use the same kiln program that I use for my 104 beads.
Is this okay? Do I need to put the boro tubing through the kiln twice using the 104 cycle?
I really hope this is do-able because I panic about setting the kiln ;D
Many thanks for any help!
Annealing is not soo critical with boroglass. This glass can forgive more thermal stress, because it builds less stress than COE104 glass. Running the COE104 annealing cycle twice is like taking a too cold bath twice. It's just not warm enough. If you hold the boroglass at 550?C for 30 minutes you may be able to anneal the softglass beads as well. But be aware, this temperature is close to the "first contact" for COE104 to become slightly sticky.
You cal collect much longer the boro-items before annealing. If you are used to work with soft glass and batch annealing and keep the habits of keeping warm (=flame annealing) for boroglass, then you should be on the safe side, eaven without annealing.
Thank you Dietmar. That's very welcome and helpful advice you've given. It's put my mind at rest and I feel happier about giving it a go now.
If you were to list your kiln/controller, someone may volunteer to give you step-by-step instructions for any programming required?
There's some good info about annealing boro on the forum, like this:
http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21693.0 (http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21693.0)
or just put 'boro annealing' in the search bar (from the main page)
Have fun! :-)
Thanks both of you. I will have fun experimenting!