Showerthought: I thought annealing was just extra time wasted

I always figured annealing was for big, fancy pieces, not the small stuff I do. Last month, I formed a little glass leaf pendant and let it cool on the table like usual. A few days later, I heard a tiny crack sound and found it split clean in two. Another glassblower saw it and said even small bits need to chill slow to avoid stress. She let me use her kiln on my next piece, a simple bead, and it came out solid. Now I see that skipping the kiln just sets up my glass to break later. I was so wrong, and now I never skip the annealing step, even for tiny projects.

3 comments

3 Comments

matthew_baker2mo ago

Glad you learned! Even tiny stuff needs that slow cool!

the_wendy2mo ago

Learned that the hard way with a small glass dish last year. It cracked right down the middle with a loud pop. Now I just leave everything on a rack until it's room temperature.

fionarodriguez2mo ago

Totally! Ruined a batch that way once.