A couple of questions about my GORGEOUS new Bead Cube!

[helbels]

  Ok, she's arrived and she's LOVELY    Is it odd to find a kiln lovely? 

Anyway, she's happily batch annealing at the moment (I think!) but I would like to check a couple of things:

1) When batch annealing, is it essential to put the beads "kebab" style on Mandrels, or can you just put them in the kiln in a wee pile?  Obviously you can fit way more in if you can do the piling up thing, so I wanted to check.

2) Re: the slits in the door for the mandrels.  Do you have to ensure that all your mandrels fit in the slits?  What if you put more mandrels in in 2 rows  so the little door thing didn't fully close quite properly - would that matter?  I only ask because it's not like the door shuts "tight" anyway - it just kind of folds down, so I wasn't sure how critical maintaining the mandrel sized hole is.

Thank you very much
Helen

[JaySpangles]

1.  I put my batch anneal beads in a HUGE pile and have had no probs so far.

2.  I have inadvertently allowed my door not to close fully, due to badly stacked mandrels, no issues, but generally try to ensure it is properly closed.

[Nikki]

Hi
Can I add a question?

Do you need to run the kiln through a cycle empty first, I had thought I had heard that you should but I can't see anything about this in my brief glimpse through the instructions?

thanks
Nikki

[helbels]

Well I haven't Nikki

My beads are stewing in there at the moment and I'm not being assaulted by any really whiffy smells or anything, so I assume all is well

[Nikki]

I'm sure I read that you don't need to, but it's good to know that you are getting started so easily. I will have to wait until I finish work tomorrow.

Nikki

[helbels]

Well, if I did need to.... it's too late now!    Perhaps any rubbish in the kiln will improve my fuglies anyway..........

[llewennog]

The only potential issue's caused by your door not shutting tightly is extra electric costs and potentially some of the beads closest to the door may not achieve annealing temp for the required time, ofc this isnt a problem if your garaging then running an annealing profile, but if your batch annealing then im sure its a better idea to ensure your door is closed.

[Lee - Kilncare]

Yup, as you say, the door is hardly an air tight seal anyway so it really isn't an issue to the kiln if the door is not shut properly. It will only be a problem if it letting in so much cold air that it effects the beads.

The kiln doesn't require pre-firing as such. It never does any harm to pre-fire but it really is not a requirement.