I need an annealing buddy!

[andrew.spencer.2]

I thought it would be a good idea to give my poor old kiln a birthday, so I upgraded it's controller to a supposedly cleverer one, and it's been nothing but trouble. I haven't worked out the kinks yet, but it's just not getting as hot as it says it is.

Anyway, I've made a marble or two that I wanted to give to my brother and his fiance for a wedding present. They've survived the japanese cooling bubbles, so I'm appealing to anyone with a reliable boro batch annealing program for help. If I could mail my marbles to you and you could anneal them for me, I would be eternally grateful. If anybody can help me out, please PM me your address and I'll send them along with return postage and whatever fee you would be happy to charge for the service.

Many thanks, and Merry Christmas!

Andrew

[Nicknack]

Can't offer to help, but LOVE the changing picture!!!

Nick

[ajda]

I'd be happy to help out - though you might prefer to talk first to someone with more years of experience. I make boro eggs up to about 2 inches across. Often they go into the kiln hot, but I regularly batch anneal from cold as well - or re-cook from cold to develop certain colours, sometimes through several different kiln cycles. It would help to know exactly which glasses you've used as some can potentially be troublesome - eg some of the sparkly aventurines, which I think may be in that marble of yours... Crystal growth at certain temperatures can lead to cracking with those...

[andrew.spencer.2]

Hi Alan, thanks for your reply.
That's a good question. It may sound foolish of me, but I haven't a clue what the sparkly stuff is. I picked it up at Martin's last time I was up there, learning how to make these marbles in fact. It was unlabeled, and all he told me about it was that it doesn't like to be encased. I thought I'd have a play with it, I've done some experiments, and so far so good. It takes a bit of heat to get it to smooth out, but I haven't encased it, and I haven't had any problems. Could be depleted plutonium for all I know? I'm sorry that's not much help, but it's no great loss if the marble does crack, I'll just start again with something else. The rest of it is clear of course and a bit of Momka: blue treasure, aurora trails, and Alaskan night.
PS- your eggs are stunning btw

[Lotti]

Where are you Andrew?  Fab marble and I love the changing picture too

[andrew.spencer.2]

Hereford

[Lotti]

Nice part of the world   I think your sparkle is dichro (I use it in my marbles alot) at least the part that is inside the marble.   I would be happy to help too, when would you want them done by though?  I am N W Devon, so there might be someone closer than me.

[andrew.spencer.2]

Oh yes of course, I forgot about that, there is dichroic in there too. The sparkle I was unsure about is the blueish bit on the bottom of the marble. Schedule isn't much of an issue, I've still got about 5 weeks before I need them done, but as I don't really know where to go from here with my kiln, I thought it better to ask for help early than leave it till the last minute, my usual M.O. Anyway, I'd trade Hereford for Devon any day

ps- if anybody wants help with making animated GIFs I'd be happy to lend a hand

[Lotti]

Aurora Borealis is sparkly, but what that will mean for batch annealing I don't know I am afraid.  Let's see if anyone else has any ideas, but the offer still stands (my parents used to have a house at Fownhope right on the river I was tiny so don't really remember it very well, but Hereford has a special place in my heart)  

[ajda]

I'd trade Hereford for Devon any day

I'm afraid I wouldn't trade Pembrokeshire for either...!

Yes - I thought it was probably dichro inside the marble, but it's the sparkly blue-grey that I'm concerned about. It looks to me like GA Jupiter Sparkle or Disco Sparkle? In any case, most of those aventurine sparkle colours can cause problems - the denser and more opaque they are, the more challenging they're likely to be. Advice is generally to avoid long hot garaging, and to keep annealing time to a minimum.

[Lotti]

I'd trade Hereford for Devon any day

I'm afraid I wouldn't trade Pembrokeshire for either...!

Yes - I thought it was probably dichro inside the marble, but it's the sparkly blue-grey that I'm concerned about. It looks to me like GA Jupiter Sparkle or Disco Sparkle? In any case, most of those aventurine sparkle colours can cause problems - the denser and more opaque they are, the more challenging they're likely to be. Advice is generally to avoid long hot garaging, and to keep annealing time to a minimum.

I can see you on a clear day   Um, bit nervous about that then, I don't tend to batch anneal very much all goes in straight away, don't want to damage that beauty!

[garishglobes]

Quite a few sparkle colours can be a bit tricky to work with - either in deep encasement or with the flame atmosphere. But if you've got this far, it could be a good sign! I'd be happy to anneal for you - it should be fine but I would make no guarantees. I'm in Cumbria, so you would need to post it, though.

[ajda]

I can see you on a clear day

I'll try to remember to give you a wave on the next clear day, Lotti - though I tend to be looking out the other way to see the hills of Ireland...

Andrew, I should go with Emma of GarishGlobes if I were you - I think you'd be in safe hands there. But if you're going to be working much with boro you need to get your kiln sorted - apart from anything else there's lots of fun to be had with kiln striking colours...

http://www.taglass.com/Articles.asp?ID=259 - scroll down to bottom of page for some interesting points about aventurines.

[garishglobes]

"Safe hands"?     

I'm happy to pop it in, though. 

The sparkle on the inside is definitely dichro. On the outside, if it was a full rod from Tuffnells, I'd say Northstar Unobtanium/Obtanium perhaps.

I agree, not just the metal-rich striking colours but some reds really benefit from a good kiln schedule.

[Skyblue]

What a beautiful marble ! I would love to see a picture of it once it is annealed too please