Annealing layers and other idiotic questions?

[Fiona Collins]

Hello all from the top end of Oz, be kind ... I'm new and stupid! Quick bio, lampworking 7 years, started fusing my scrap rod (104) and doing tiny pot melts in my SC3 and got hooked. I've just got a GL148adtsd and I'm loving it after a few hiccups like, OMG how much does a clay shelf weigh! Have gone to KL board for shelves and hernia has receded

1. I'm making components on the torch, fusing really thin base layers from stringer and rod and then doing a full fuse of 3 or 4 layers, all good. I don't anneal the layers, just full ramp and OFF, I figure that they're going to full fuse when I melt them together and I anneal then, is this OK?

2. I'm mainly using 104 (Effetre) as it's way cheaper than S96 or BE here. I haven't had any problems (up to 4 firings a piece) but I can't find much info on fusing 104, is it not recommended / popular?

Appreciate any feedback, Cheers, fiona

[Lauri Levanto]

Hello, I'm Lauri close to the other pole of earth.

You are right that the last annealing is what counts.
You can skip the previous annealings
IF
the glass does not break in free cooling
AND in the next ramp up.

If yoy have used precious time and material in the preliminary stages
you will be sorry if it breaks. Therefore I recommend annealing at every stage.
As they say: If you have not time to do it right, you must have time to do it two times.

[Morganica]

I've fused Effetre, and found it a hit or miss as fusing glass. Glass fired in a kiln is subjected to heat over a much longer period of time than glass manipulated in a torch, and Effetre colors that are at all heat-sensitive don't usually do well in a kiln. Rubino d'oro, for example, becomes an opaque, sludgy brown-purple. If you've been torchworking with Effetre for awhile you probably know which colors need to be in the flame as little as possible; those are the ones I'd stay away from, or at least experiment with before using them in an important piece.

I'd also watch the volumes of glass I'd put together. Sometimes, especially when putting warm Effetre colors like scarlet against cool transparents on the torch, a little warm+a lot of transparent would work, but not the reverse, i.e., putting a boatload of red with a little bit of transparent pale blue or whatever. I took this to mean they were less compatible than other combinations, so the usually larger volumes of fused glass might be problematic.

[Bert Weiss]

Fiona you are certainly no dummy. You landed here and asked a question! The Italians who make the Effetre were fusing long before Bullseye and Spectrum came along. I would guess that they have anneal info you can get.

If your firing schedules are working for you, great. If you get cracking during reheats, pay more attention to annealing the early firings. The natural cooling of your kiln might be sufficient to anneal the thickness you are coming up with. Higher expansion glasses are more prone to thermal shock than lower expansion glasses. Borosilicates, that take a lot of thermal abuse, are in the 30's.

[Fiona Collins]

Thank you all!

Lauri - I've never heard this before "As they say: If you have not time to do it right, you must have time to do it two times", I will put it up next to kiln for when I'm tempted to peek

Cynthia - I know what you mean about the reds, they seem to COE shift in prolonged firings and I keep way from them. I love Lauscha for some of the reactions I can get with their spready colours but they use the 104 label very loosely, their range is more like 100 to 108, I managed to weed out the worst offendors at the torch and use the SC3 for test tiles before trying bigger pieces.

Bert - I think you're right about my kiln cooling rate naturally annealing (our temp range is 28c - 34C / 82 - 93 in your language) and, touch wood, i have yet to encounter thermal shock.

Cheers, fiona