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Lampwork Questions
Hi Wendy!
This is a debatable issue, so what I say here is *my own personal opinion*. You *can* do each of those things, to varying degrees of success. The smaller the bead, the less likely it is to break from shock, generally. If you're using soft glass (Moretti, Murano, etc.) the beads are more sensitive to temperature changes. Most beginners start with soft glass. A fiber blanket is better than using the torch to flame "anneal", in my opinion. You can save those beads for later batch annealing in a kiln. Of course, putting the beads in a kiln immediately is almost always the best option, if you can. I *personally* would not sell any bead that has been batch annealed or not annealed in a kiln. Batch annealed beads (or beads cooled in a fiber blanket) are usually just fine for giving away, making into jewelry for yourself, or selling inexpensively as a hobby, in my opinion. Professional beads should definitely be properly annealed. That said, kilns are expensive, so make sure you love this art before investing. But once you get one, you'll probably love it. Have fun!! -- Kandice Seeber Air & Earth Designs http://www.lampwork.net A friend of mine at work wants to do glass work (paper weights, blown glass and etc) he thinks since I want to do lampworking (beads) that we could do beads together to get him started. I've been reading through the Sooz List, the newsgroup here (both live and Google) and the web and this is what I think I've figured out. (I'm using very technical terms like 'mess up' and 'thingy') Please correct me if I've made incorrect jumps in my assumptions. And read all the way through before thinking I'm daft. -You can make very small things and use the fiber blanket to let it cool slowly so it won't mess up. -You can use a torch to cool things down slowly so they won't mess up. -You should kiln anneal your stuff so it won't ever mess up. My question (other than do I have the gist of it) is can you do the above items then store your things until you can afford a kiln then anneal in the kiln so it will be cooked properly and won't break. I know you should NEVER sell your stuff unless annealed properly or if you do make sure you state so in VERY BIG LETTERS. grin I'm using very simple terms so that I won't use a technical term that I don't fully understand. So by saying 'mess up' it's more generally that it won't break, however beads break when they haven't been cooked properly. I read about how if it cools too fast the molecules don't sit together right, kinda like they're not comfortable, but if you cool them down properly (or maybe heat them up lots, then cool them down properly) they sit next to each other comfy like and are strong. So tell me if I'm daft (my husband thinks so) or if I'm on the right track. Thanks for the help. Wendy |
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In article ,
"Maeven" wrote: A friend of mine at work wants to do glass work (paper weights, blown glass and etc) he thinks since I want to do lampworking (beads) that we could do beads together to get him started. I've been reading through the Sooz List, the newsgroup here (both live and Google) and the web and this is what I think I've figured out. (I'm using very technical terms like 'mess up' and 'thingy') Please correct me if I've made incorrect jumps in my assumptions. And read all the way through before thinking I'm daft. -You can make very small things and use the fiber blanket to let it cool slowly so it won't mess up. -You can use a torch to cool things down slowly so they won't mess up. -You should kiln anneal your stuff so it won't ever mess up. My question (other than do I have the gist of it) is can you do the above items then store your things until you can afford a kiln then anneal in the kiln so it will be cooked properly and won't break. I know you should NEVER sell your stuff unless annealed properly or if you do make sure you state so in VERY BIG LETTERS. grin I'm using very simple terms so that I won't use a technical term that I don't fully understand. So by saying 'mess up' it's more generally that it won't break, however beads break when they haven't been cooked properly. I read about how if it cools too fast the molecules don't sit together right, kinda like they're not comfortable, but if you cool them down properly (or maybe heat them up lots, then cool them down properly) they sit next to each other comfy like and are strong. So tell me if I'm daft (my husband thinks so) or if I'm on the right track. Thanks for the help. Wendy Yes, what you are describing is "batch annealing" and once you have batch annealed, your pieces are as strong as if you had production-annealed them...IF (and this is important!) there were not any invisible internal cracks in them before you annealed. You CAN weed out the ones with invisible flaws by putting your beads in the freezer for a few hours after annealing, then running them under hot tap water (or putting them through the dishwasher). The ones that have little invisible internal cracks will break from the stress. -- -Kalera --------- Regime change in 2004! |
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