Beginning to really hate annealing bubbles! :(

[Kathy]

Everytime I try and make larger sized beads and especially ring toppers, and place them in bubbles to cool - they crack in half    Does anybody else have the same problem?  I suspect with the ring toppers it is something to do with the rate that the nut cools down so I will try my hand at garaging and popping them straight in the kiln.  I've always batch annealed as it is so easy to just pop on the torch without any forward planning re: switching the kiln on etc. and this seems quite a scary prospect to me!!!  Any help or advice would be gratefully received (as I'm becoming more and more frustrated and wasting LOTS of my precious glass)! xx

[Madam Steph]

I generally use kiln warming up time to pull my stringers and prepare my rods/murrini etc and lay em all out

[Blue Box Studio]

I lose really large beads to cracks in the bubbles, but put that down to me.  Perhaps they'd be better going straight into the kiln.

[ScarletLeonard]

I can only batch and so I use bubbles but I haven't lost any that I didn't know were already cracked to the bubbles (sometimes I make to many spacers on a mandrel)

If you can garage it's better anyway, as mentioned pull stringer or just make spacers and pop them in the bubbles to batch anneal at a later time while you are waiting for it to warm up. Doesn't take to long to get it up to temp and what's a bit of waiting to not have the fear that the lovely bead you just made is going to go pop.

[turnedlight]

I always put my beads straight in the kiln.. I'm not sure what effect it has on the leccy usage but if you are losing a lot of beads then you have essentially wasted the gas anyway.. well that's how I look at it

[Hotglass28]

You need a kiln for big beads.

[The Tartan Trout]

Nice to see everyone's agreeing with what I told you now no peaking... You know you only regret it

[Veebee]

I have the same problem with ring toppers and agree with you about the different expansion/contraction rate of the nut versus the glass. Otherwise the only cracks I usually get, even with BIG beads is around bubbles, or an incompatibility, or because I admired for too long before popping in. I've made some whoppers with no problems, and I only batch anneal. 

[Sarah A]

I use cooling bubbles as due to having a fusing kiln I have to batch anneal. I rarely get a bead crack and the largest I have made was approx 35mm though I did waft that one in the end of the flame for several mins I haven't done ring toppers yet

[Shirl]

My ring top cracked in the bubbles, also I find lentils and bubble beads also have a high suicide rate, so only make this type of bead when I have my kiln on.

Round beads do well in the bubbles

[Kathy]

Kiln is on and I'm off to try again (I do seem to have become a 'late night torcher')?!  Thanks for the feedback guys - will let you know how I get on (and yes Trouty - no peeking I know)!  xx

[Curlybird]

I used to find a high proportion of lentils cracked in the bubbles, so i invested in a bead door for my SC2 and haven't lost a single one since - at least not to cracking....

Anne

[poledra1958]

Lost a few large lentil earlier in the year in bubbles (thought it was just because it was still fairly cold outside.  Have not lost as many since putting the heated food tray under the bubbles tin.  Have lost a few ring toppers though but thought it was only the ones I had encased, but again it could have been that they cooled to quick.

Only have a small kiln so not able to anneal as I go    So will have to make notes, about which ones I loose.

[Eeveegee]

I was using the powder vermiculite and nothing ever cracked. Now in the bubbles, quite a lot aren't surviving the cooling down period. I was wondering, perhaps it is because the bubbles are so light and the mandrel with the bead goes straight to the bottom of the container, where it is colder than in the middle.... What do you guys think?

I was contemplating putting a layer of vermiculite in the bottom of the container and then topping that off with bubbles.

Is this an idea?

I don't have an oven yet... still in the PPP stage 

Elizabeth

[Amber]

I've had lots of casualties in vermiculite and bubbles  I've always batch annealed, because until very recently I had to run electricity to my workshop via an extension cable through an open window, so for security reasons I couldn't have the kiln going overnight or if I went out. Think I'll have to have to bite the bullet and have a go at garaging now though, I'm fed up of losing half of my beads to thermal shock