CIM - Annealing

[Kathy Seamands]

Hope I am not repeating too much here . . .  we have 25 Messy testers, none of whom reported cracking or breakage problems due to annealing temperatures EXCEPT with Cirrus, Halong Bay, and Peacock Green.  Most of the testers did not change their annealing cycles from their regular Moretti schedule.

We did have testers report, however, that batch annealing was not effective.

We test every pot of Messy Color that we melt against Effetre regular clear, Effetre super clear, Vetrofond crystal clear, Lauscha, Precision's Diamond Clear, and Kugler clear.  We are formulated to be closest to Effetre and Vetrofond, so we recommend using those. 

Our testers who traditionally use Lauscha with Effetre and Vetrofond have also reported no problems using Lauscha with Messy. 

It is part of my mission to provide comprehensive and accurate information about each and every Messy Color individually in order to optimize your working environment. 

If anyone is interested in delving into this topic more in depth, I have a lengthy bibliography from Corning Library that I would be happy to forward.

Kathy

[Trudi]

Hi

I've been reading this and the other post http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2031.30
about CIM.

I've got the Cirrus (and 2 others). I haven't used it very much, but I have made some small beads with cirrsus and cooled in blanket and batch annealed as normal

PRO1
Ramp1 149C
Temp1 520C
Hold1 60mins
Ramp2 78C
Temp2 371C
Hold2 0000mins
Ramp3 0000

and that was about 2 weeks ago and they seem fine:



Perhaps I've been lucky  - or it could be that they are smaller pieces???

Any thoughts??

Trudi

[Billie]

Pretty 

Haven't tried mine yet as I batch anneal and haven't got a big enough stash yet 

[glassworks]

thanks trudi, i know kathy is keeping an eye on this thread for us...

cheers

Q

[Trudi]

It would be interesting to see comments from others on this after they've had a play.

I honestly didn't think about it when I bought the glass - or when I used it before I read the posts. And I did have a bit of a panic about it, and as I'm new to lampworking I'm on a constant learning curve  - and try and learn from others on here as well as my own experiences!

I do tend to batch anneal, and while I might mix the 104 glasses, I do try not to mix them too much - more surface decorations etc.

I'll probably be a bit more wary for a while using this one  - but I'll keep giving it a go and see what happens.


I also have the Gelly Sty & Celadon (the finish on the rod is just amazing - it has a superbsheen to it - haven't really had the chance to have a proper play with it yet - need some inspiration first!)

Trudi
The funny thing with the beads I made above - I had also made some similar but with clear effetre - but the cirrus CIM gave a much better finish with the frit!

[Kathy Seamands]

Recently one of our testers, Lorraine Chandler, batch annealed Messy Color. Lorraine divided the glass into 2 annealing groups and experienced no breakage with either.  (Thanks, Lorraine, for a great job testing and record keeping!)

525 (Celsius) annealing schedule for batch annealing
Ramp up         0-150  degrees       1 hour     
                    150-315  degrees    1 hour   
                    315-425  degrees    1 hour   
                    425-525 degrees     1 hour
                    Held at 525 for 30 minutes

Ramp down     525-425 degrees     2 hours
                    425-370  degrees    1 hour 
                    370-315  degrees    1 hour
                    315-205 degrees     1 hour
                    Turn off kiln and remove beads the next morning.

555 annealing schedule for batch annealing

Ramp up         0-150 degrees         1 hour
                    150-315 degrees      1 hour 
                    315-425 degrees      45 minutes
                    425-510  degrees     45 minutes
                    510-555  degrees     45 minutes
                    Held at 555 for 30 minutes

Ramp down     555-510 degrees       1 hour
                    510-455 degrees       1 hour
                    455-400 degrees       1 hour
                    400-290 degrees       1 hour
                    290-230 degrees       1 hour
                    Turn off kiln and remove beads in the morning.

We don't like to recommend batch annealing because it is always safer to anneal immediately while the bead is still hot.  However, Trudi, I thought you would want to know that some of our testers are having success as well.

And by the way, you also discovered one of the special working properties of Cirrus.  If you use transparent colors on top of Cirrus, it will appear less "washed out" than if on regular clear.

Hope that gives you some confidence, Trudi. And hope you will share your beads and any other discoveries you make about Messy Color. Feel free to contact me here or directly at kathy@creationismessy.com if there are any questions.

[glassworks]

thanks kathy, feedback based on actual testing is totally invaluable!!!