The Little Kiln's First Run
After weeks of reading up on how to do it, I'm running my first batch anneal this afternoon.
The reason to batch anneal is to prevent fractures resulting from micro-cracks related to rapid cooling. I've been using hot-mats to cool my beads in, which is sufficient to prevent major cracks but insufficient to prevent micro-cracks that would, over time, eventually lead to beads breaking.
I'll be taking my beads up to almost 1000°F over the course of the next hour, then slowly cooling them by no more than 2°F/minuite. This will take about eight hours to accomplish. By nearly melting the beads and then cooling them slowly, the microcracks will disappear, and hopefully not reappear.
Yet another reason to keep my fingers crossed this afternoon.