Lost another piece to stress cracks, now I'm stuck between slow oven drops and quick kiln shuts
I was working on a thick borosilicate paperweight, and it kept splitting right down the middle after it cooled. Some folks at the studio told me to let it anneal super slow, like dropping the kiln temp over ten hours to avoid internal stress. But others said that's overkill for boro, and you can shut the kiln off once it hits 900 degrees for a faster cool without cracks. I tried the long way first, which worked but ate up a whole day. When I rushed it, the piece made it sometimes but not always. I started pre-heating my kiln to exactly 1050 before putting the piece in, then did a slow drop to 900 before cutting power. That mix seems to do the trick for me now. So, which side are you on for keeping heavy pieces intact, the slow anneal crew or the quick cool camp?