Is there a right order to do it? Update with a pic

[shaz]

I have now been practising for about 3/4 weeks, messing about as you do and I have a pile of what I like to call beads But today my beadcube is being delivered and I now want to get into the right way of doing things. So I make beads, now which is best, putting in vermiculite then leave & for how long? then do i clean and then kiln or do i leave and kiln then clean. Sorry lot of Qs but I have read loads and loads and now feel overwhelmed with info. Also all the beads I have made up to now, can they all go in the kiln at once, I am expecting lots to break, Im afraid as a newbie I kept getting them out of the vermiculite to admire them . thanks for any help, willprobably be right back on when ive had the kiln delivered.

[jammie]

Batch annealling, make beads put them in vermiculite leave a few hours (I think thats right) when you have a collection , put them in the kiln for a batch anneal using that programme. (set the programme for a batch anneal. This will be clearer when you have the kiln but if your not sure about programming you can ask about that.

garaging....annealing as you go, have kiln on set to programme for garaging/ annealing ...make a bead, put it in the kiln make another , put in the kiln, when your finished set the programme to annealling schedule.

From what I have read on here there is no one method better than the other, but some glasses like to be put in the kiln straight away and some bigger beads seem to be better going in the kiln straight away.
Clean the beads after annealing..they are stronger then.
Hope that helps  


there's good info here http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/wiki/Annealing

[shaz]

Thanks for that, I looked at the link page earlier but it seemed the more I read the less I knew, I think im trying to take in too much at once.

[Lush!]

If you can, I'd recommend garaging - putting in the kiln straight away from the torch and leave out the vermiculite stage. 

If you do batch anneal, its less stressful for the beads if you do this before cleaning them.

[shaz]

Thanks Julie.

[mizgeorge]

It's also a lot quicker to garage - you put the kiln on and it's up to temperature in less than 15 minutes, then just skip to the annealing portion of the cycle when you've made the last bead of the session. If you're batch annealing you have to watch that torturous slow ramp up to temperature - and if you're late putting them on in the evening, they're still not cool enough to take out in the morning, which is HUGELY frustrating!

The cube is incredibly economical to run, so there's no real reason for saving up and batching them.

[sarah t]

the bead cube comes programmed with the two progammes you nead ...

today .... set up ( find it a nice safe home ,bit in back plug it in !) ....read instructions then batch anneal what you have already made using programme 2...put beads on madrels like a bead kebab and stick in kiln.... push button till programme 2 comes up then hit start ....the kiln does the rest 

from then on use programme 1 ... make and put straight into kiln ( till full or you are done )...then hold the up arrow  ...bleep ...and the kiln does the rest 

i use the kiln block provided at the back of the kiln as a mandrel rest.....

simples 

[shaz]

Thanks mizgeorge and Saraht, its just been delivered and im sat here looking at it. I think what I might do is leave all what ive made up to now for a later date, and garage from now. If I garage have I got this right I put the beads in till ive finished then press up arrow till it beeps, then? does  it do a "cycle" and stops on its own? or what else do I do Im reading the instructions but they dont mean much at the moment.
thanks

[jammie]

does it come pre programmed?

[Nikki]

My bead cube had tow programmes preset 

[Kalorlo]

The garaging program that comes with it brings it up to temperature fast, then sits at garaging temp for a long time (11 or 13 hours) - this is your working time - then sits at annealing temp for 1.5hrs, then cools down slowly and switches off when it gets down to 250C.

When you're working, the display alternates between the current temperature and how long is left on the current segment, so it'll be counting down from 13hrs. Since you aren't likely to be working for that long, when you're finished you hold the up arrow until it beeps and it'll move on to the annealing step. Then just leave it and it'll go through the rest of the steps on its own.

(The default program has garaging and annealing temp both as 520C. That's fine, but they don't necessarily have to be the same).

[shaz]

Kalorlo thank you.  I think it does have programs but not sure what they are

[Redhotsal]

To make it as simple as possible: You either batch anneal or hot anneal.....

For BATCH ANNNEALING:

You can either make beads and let them sit in your vermiculite until they are stone cold (avoid sneaky peeks!). This usually takes about an hour from when the last bead was made to reach a "safe" temperature.

Take these beads off their mandrels and keep them all together until you have sufficient to run a kiln full. If they haven't yet broken you are unlikely to lose them (unless there's a hairline crack already which fails when they are cleaned.) and unless you ramp up too quickly in your kiln.

Put all the beads inside the kiln and then you can BATCH ANNEAL.

This means that the kiln will run from room temperature SLOWLY up to annealing temperature (which is around 520 for most "normal" soda glass. This rise in temperature is usually of the order of 200-250 degrees per hour (can't remember what Lee has set it to on the pre-programmed Bead Cube.)

So.....it'll take a couple of hours to reach the annealing temperature. You don't want to go any quicker than this as too hot too quick means cracking beads.

If your pre-programmed kiln shoots up to 520C in less than twenty minutes you are on the wrong program!

When you reach the ANNEALING temperature (520C). The kiln will sit there for around 30-60mins depending on what the program has been set too. Most small beads only need 30 minutes of annealing but if you like to make big or complicated things go for about an hour. By the way - commerically made paperweights which are around 120mm in diameter can take DAYS rather than HOURS to anneal. It's all dependent upon the size of object.

After the bead has annealed, the temperature can start to come down. You must go SLOWLY at this point - around 60 degrees/hour, until you get past the STRAIN POINT of the glass. This is the point where molecular movement ceases and the glass effectively becomes totally solid. Molecular movement can happen way below the actual melting point. In the case of Effetre the strain point is around 450C, but many people like to go to much lower than this temperature before they increase the rate of cooling. For example, nothing much is going to happen to the bead at 250C so I generally turn the kiln off at this point. BUT between 450-520 the cooling rate is CRITICAL and if you cool too quickly between these points you won't anneal the bead at all.

Wait until everything is back to room temperature and then you can clean/play with your beads to your heart's delight.

HOT ANNEALING is slightly different. This is where you put your hot bead NOT into the vermiculite but into a hot kiln.
One of the programs on your Beadcube will be set up for this. With hot annealing you want to get the kiln right up to temperature as quickly as possible so the main point is to get from 0-520C in about 20 minutes.

Once your bead is made you can then put it directly into the hot kiln. Make sure it doesn't touch anything for the first fifteen minutes. The bead is going to be hotter than the kiln at this point and so will get dented or will stick to any other glass object in this time period so you must separate your beads if hot annealing. After a little while, after they have cooled down to kiln temperature you can effectively stack them together.

Hot annealing (or garaging) usually means the kiln is held at 520 for 7-8 hours - or as long as you want your beadmaking session to be. If you finish before the 7-8 hours you will have to move the kiln onto the next section - the annealing section. on the beadcube you hold the UP key for around five seconds (until it beeps) and it will go onto the annealing section.

THe annealing section just repeats the annealing bit that the "batch annealing" program does. Remember - you last bead needs about a half hour at a constant temperature of 520 before you ramp down - so the bead cube has effectively built this section in. After the 30 mins it will then ramp down in the same way the batch annealing program does.

[shaz]

Thanks Sal and everyone else, I have read all your tips and sat and looked at the instructions again and it now seems clearer  so thanks again.

[shaz]

Thanks to the advice from everyone I put a batch anneal in yesterday of most of the beads ive made since starting about 3/4 weeks ago, it went very smoothly (must have been because I only had to press the start button)  anyway heres a pic of them annealed and cleaned.



004 by shazzypops, on Flickr