Wednesday, 7 August 2019

Firing uneven layers



Firing uneven layers requires more care than a piece equally thick all over.

My rule of thumb is to add the difference between the thick and thin to the thick and fire for that. So, a piece with a 6mm base and a total height of 12mm gives a difference of 6mm added to 12mm gives a firing thickness of 18mm. If you look up the bullseye site annealing for thick slabs, follow the schedule for 19mm. The initial heating rate can usually be half the final cooling rate shown in the table.

The Bullseye recommendations are more conservative.  They recommend that the firing rate should be for something twice the thickest part of the piece.  In this case, the firing would be for a piece as though it were 24mm. Again, the initial rate of advance would be equal to half the final cool segment in the Bullseye table Annealing Thick Slabs.  

If you are slumping a thick piece, you can use the initial rate of advance all the way to the slumping temperature and then anneal according to the thick slabs table.

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