Frit help please

[Enchanted Cobwebs]

I'm not doing well at all today!

Made some lovely beads with vertrofond cream followed by a little of kazkebab 'light my fire' frit and encased with reichenbach soft crystal. Beautiful results, even the beads were a nice regular shape.

I batch anneal because I'm still at the stage where on every session a fair few are not worth annealing. Dug them out of the vermiculite and about a third are cracked. So, I have looked on here and see beautiful frit encased and I have really used far less than 10%. I also see that on Martins site he mentions surface decoration on his 96 COE frit. So, is it just a case that this type really ought to go in the kiln straight away or is it that I shouldnt encase a different COE?

[Kaz]

Encased frit in small amounts is not problematic. I suspect the issue may be with the vetro odd - these are notoriously grumpy when it comes to mixing with other types of glass even in the same COE. You could also be letting the bead get too cool before putting in the vermiculite.
Kazx

[The Tartan Trout]

I use 96coe and encase with 006 and I both batch anneal and go straight to kiln. I have never had any problems, and if you have seen any of my beads, you will know I don't hold back on the frit

[awrylemming]

I use vetro cream all the time and with frit often, encased and not, and have had no breakages, but I don't batch anneal.  All of these beads have been garaged.

[Hamilton Taylor]

There's really no definitive answer to this - some combinations of 104 and 96 glass are fine cooled in vermiculite, some always seem to crack. Some, you can often get away with encasing, some you often can't. You definitely would stand a better chance if you put them straight into a kiln at annealing temp, as the glass will anneal before it cools, and the differential contraction on cooling won't be pulling on unannealed glass, as in vermiculite cooling.

For sure, if you have a kiln, you should (in my opinion...) garage your beads as you go. Even fuglies, if annealed, are useful, as a permanent record of your progressing skillset.
Have another go, don't lose heart!


Sean

[Enchanted Cobwebs]

You could also be letting the bead get too cool before putting in the vermiculite.
Kazx

Well.. I did wait till I saw the colours, just had to do it so thats a high probabiliy!

I use 96coe and encase with 006 and I both batch anneal and go straight to kiln. I have never had any problems, and if you have seen any of my beads, you will know I don't hold back on the frit

Yours are lovely, when I searched here after my little dissapointment I saw some of yours and thought..maybe one day! No definitely one day!

I use vetro cream all the time and with frit often, encased and not, and have had no breakages, but I don't batch anneal.  All of these beads have been garaged.

Think I need to put in the kiln, trying not to be wasteful but broken beauties is more wasteful, specially as I dont often get that beautiful a finish

For sure, if you have a kiln, you should (in my opinion...) garage your beads as you go. Even fuglies, if annealed, are useful, as a permanent record of your progressing skillset.
Have another go, don't lose heart!


Sean

So, I'm puttimg the kiln on next time, maybe tonight even if I only make half a dozen coz after work there is so little evening left.

I'm glad it will work, Kaz that frit is beautiful. tried it on the surface it it was lovely but encased its amazing even in two halves!

Thanks everyone for all your help, very much appreciated
Helen x

[Pat from Canvey]

"it was lovely but encased its amazing even in two halves!"

Cabochon time.

[Pandanimal]

"it was lovely but encased its amazing even in two halves!"

Cabochon time.

Yup. What she said.

Try slumping your 2 halves and making studs?

[Veebee]

I batch anneal and use frit often. It is rare for me to get a crack unless the bead has cooled too much before going into the fibre blanket. When I do get cracks in encased beads that are clearly not thermal I make a note not to encase that frit! If your beads have split straight down the mandrel that is most likely thermal rather than incompatibility  Just get them into the vermiculite as soon as the surface glow haas gone and you should be fine 

[Enchanted Cobwebs]

"it was lovely but encased its amazing even in two halves!"

Cabochon time.

"it was lovely but encased its amazing even in two halves!"

Cabochon time.

Yup. What she said.

Try slumping your 2 halves and making studs?

Genius! And I have loads!!!!

I batch anneal and use frit often. It is rare for me to get a crack unless the bead has cooled too much before going into the fibre blanket. When I do get cracks in encased beads that are clearly not thermal I make a note not to encase that frit! If your beads have split straight down the mandrel that is most likely thermal rather than incompatibility  Just get them into the vermiculite as soon as the surface glow haas gone and you should be fine 

Think I admired them too long, dyingh to see what they might look like but tonight the kiln is going on

Thanks again everyone!