Waiting until the Glow is Gone........

[Fruddy]

.....is as easy as pie when its dark outside and the only bright light that I have is my spots above my bench!  Before putting a bead into the annealing bubbles, I can easily see when its good to go by giving it a wave under the bench in the dark!

But it is a different story entirely in bright sunlight!!       I found myself guessing a LOT on Saturday afternoon and had a couple of beads crack, because I had obviously left them for too long in the open air!

Is there a "Rule of Thumb" for how long a bead takes to cool off until the glow is gone once out of the flame??

Thanks!

[Billie]

Could you, when you're torching in dimmer light, count how many mississippi's it is until the glow is gone, so you know what to count to when it's sunny in your work area?  I'm sure someone has a more technical way of working it out, but I count 

[lampworklover]

 more of a practice thing I think...it depends on how big the bead is, the smaller they are, the quicker they will cool down. Also probably the sort of glass; they all seem to have different characteristics in terms of how 'runny' they get, and I imagine that this might equate to different melting temperatures (although I could be wrong about that bit).

[elburnzo]

i put mines under the desk to check the glow has gone, never thought of counting. its darker under there so the glow shows up much better

[Trudi]

i put mines under the desk to check the glow has gone, never thought of counting. its darker under there so the glow shows up much better

Yup - i do the under the bench trick too!

[Black Heart Beads]

I sometimes give a bead a little tap on my marver to check its solid enough and ready pop in the kiln.

[Billie]

I don't have much space between my legs and the work area, so to avoid burnt knees and thighs, counting is easier for me.  What I count to varies on the bead size and the temperature in the studio, now I think about it, so I guess you develop a gut feel for it.

[Les]

I guess you develop a gut feel for it.

I was just going to say pretty much the same thing... PPP until you eventually just 'know' when the glass is cooled enough

[AnnaSpanna]

I just use the under the desk method. I wear a leather welding apron and that helps me prevent burnt legs!

[caraj316]

I guess quite often (very scientific!) or tap it with my magic wand-esque thing, or I can tell by the colour, but as I'm garaging if it starts to glow again when going into the kiln its still a bit hot!

[Fruddy]

i put mines under the desk to check the glow has gone, never thought of counting. its darker under there so the glow shows up much better

So do I, but the problem is when I'm sitting in bright sunlight during the day, then even when I put the bead under my bench, I can't see the glow.

[Fruddy]

Could you, when you're torching in dimmer light, count how many mississippi's it is until the glow is gone, so you know what to count to when it's sunny in your work area?  I'm sure someone has a more technical way of working it out, but I count 

That's a great idea - will give that a go!  Thanks!

[sarah t]

torching in bright light is a problem for other things too i find so i coverd my window with white paper lets in light but not enough to affect me working

[Trudi]

If it's really sunny - I have a very technical solution - I go outside and put up a big bit of cardboard to block out the bright light! - works for me!