Observations on Some Suggestions about Annealing

There are writings from a teacher attempting to make glass fusing simple.  Unfortunately, glass physics and chemistry are very complicated.  Attempting to avoid these complications leads to failures and other difficulties as the practitioner progresses. 

Proper annealing is one of the fundamentals to achieving sound kilnforming results.  Some suggestions have been made by a widely followed person to “simplify” the understanding of the annealing process.  Discussion of the meaning and importance of annealing can be found in many places, including here.  

Annealing temperatures

It has been suggested that the annealing temperatures can be inferred from the CoE of the glass that is being used. Discussion of what CoE is and is not can be found here and here.

Annealing temperatures are not directly related to the expansion coefficient (CoE) of the glass.  This can be shown from the published annealing temperatures for different glasses organised by presumed CoE:

·        “CoE96”: Wisssmach 96 - anneal at 482°C;  Oceanside - anneal at 515°C

·        “COE94”: Artista - anneal at 535°C

·        “CoE 93”: Kokomo - anneal between 507°C and 477°C – average 492°C

·        “CoE 90”: Bullseye - anneal at 482°C; Wissmach90 - anneal at 482°C; Uroboros FX90 - anneal at 525°C

·        “CoE 83”:

o   Pilkington (UK) float - anneal at 540°C;

o   typical USA float - anneal at 548°C;

o   Typical Australian float - anneal between 505°C and 525°C, average 515°C

This shows there is no direct relationship between CoE and annealing temperature.  Do not be tempted to use a CoE number to indicate an annealing temperature.  Go to the manufacturer’s web site to get the correct information.

Temperature equalisation soak

Annealing for any glass can occur over a range of temperatures.  The annealing point is the temperature at which the glass can most quickly be annealed.  However, the glass cannot be annealed if it is not all at the same temperature throughout the substance of the glass.  It has been shown through research done at the Bullseye Glass Company that a temperature difference of more than 5°C will leave stress within the glass piece. To ensure good annealing, adequate time must be given to the temperature equalisation process (annealing). 

From the Bullseye research the following times are required for an adequate anneal soak:

6mm /   1/4"            60 minutes

[9mm /  3/8"           90 minutes]

12mm  / 1/2"          120 minutes

[15mm  /   5/8"       150 minutes]

19mm   / 3/4"         180 minutes

[ ] = interpolated from the Bullseye chart for annealing thick slabs

Anneal Cooling

There are suggestions that a “second anneal” can be used on important pieces.  Other than observing that all pieces are important to the maker, the suggestion should be investigated.  On looking into the idea, it is essentially a second soak at 425°C, which is slightly below the strain point, rather than controlled cool from the anneal soak temperature.

It is reported that the Corning Museum of Glass considers 450°C as the lower strain point – the temperature below which no further relief of strain is possible.  This means that any secondary soak must occur above 450°C rather than the suggested 425°C. Such a soak is unnecessary if the appropriate cooling rates are used. 

Cooling Rate

Except in special circumstances, the cooling rate needs to be controlled as part of the annealing process.  Soaking the glass at the anneal is not the completion of the annealing.  Most practitioners follow the practice of choosing a slow rate of cooling from the annealing soak to some point below the strain point rather than a rapid one with a soak at the strain point temperature.

Annealing is not just the soak time (which is there to equalise the temperature), it is about the rate of the annealing cool too. The rate at which you cool is dependent on the thickness of the glass piece and whether it is all of one thickness or of variable thicknesses.

Even thickness

                                         Cooling rate

Dimension      time (mins)     to 427°C to 371°C

6mm              60                 83°C       150°C

9mm              90                 69°C       125°C

12mm            120                55°C       99°C

15mm            150                37°C       63°C

19mm            180                25°C       45°C

                                        Cooling rate

Dimension      time (mins)     to 800°F   to 700°F

0.25"              60                 150°F       270°F

0.375"            90                 124°F       225°F

0.5"               120                100°F       178°F

0.675"           150                67°F         114°F

0.75"             180                45°F         81°F

Tack fused/ uneven thickness

If your piece is tack fused, you need to treat the annealing rate and soak as though it were twice the actual total thickness. This gives the following times and rates:

Tack fused

Dimension (mm)                                Cooling rate

Actual     Calculated       time (mins)    to 427°C   to 371°C

6            12                 120                55°C       99°C

9            18                 150                25°C       45°C

12          25                 180                15°C       27°C

15          30                 300                9°C         18°C

18          38                 360                6.7°C       12°C

Dimension (inches)                                Cooling rate

Actual     Calculated       time (mins)    to 800°F   to 700°F

0.25          0.5                 120                100°F       180°F

0.375        0.75               150                45°F         81°F

0.5            1.0                180                27°F          497°F

0.675        1.25               300                16°F         36°F

0.75          1.5                360                12°F          22°F

Contour fusing requires firing as though the piece is 1.5 times thicker.  Sharp tack or laminating requires 2.5 times the the actual thickness.

Fusing on the floor of the kiln

There is a further possible complication if you are doing your fusing on the kiln floor, or a shelf resting on the floor of the kiln.  In this case you need to use the times and rates for glass that is at least 3mm thicker than the piece actually is. 

Thus, a flat 6mm piece on a shelf on the floor would use the times and rates for 9mm: anneal soak for 90 minutes, anneal cool at 69°C to 427°C and then at 124°C to 371°C.  It would be safest if you continued to control the cooling to room temperature at no more than 400°C per hour.

But if it were a tack fused piece of a total of 6mm you would use the times and rates for 18mm.  This is using the rates for twice the total thickness plus the additional 3mm for being on the base of the kiln.  This gives the times and rates as being an anneal soak of 360 minutes and cooling rates of 7°C to 427°C and 12°C to 370, followed by 40°C per hour to room temperature.  Any quicker rates should be tested for residual stress before use.

Source for the annealing and cooling of fused glass

These times and rates are based on the table derived from Bullseye research, which is published and available on the Bullseye site.   It is applicable to all fusing glass with adjustments for differing annealing soak temperatures.

Annealing over multiple firings

It has been recommended by a widely followed person that the annealing soak should be extended each time subsequent to the first firing.  I am uncertain about the reasoning behind this suggestion. But the reasons for discounting it are related to adequate annealing and what is done between firings.

If the annealing is adequate for the first firing, it will be adequate for subsequent firings unless you have made significant alterations to the piece.  If you have added another layer to a full fused piece, for example and are using a tack fuse, you will need to anneal for longer, because the style and thickness have been altered.  Not because it is a second firing.  If you are slumping a fired piece, the annealing does not need to be any different than the original firing.

The only time the annealing needs to be altered is when you have significantly changed the thickness of the piece, or the style of fusing (mainly tacking additional items to the full fused piece).  This is when you need to look at the schedules you are planning to use to ensure your heat up is slow enough, that your annealing soak is long enough, and the cool slow enough for the altered conditions.

Determining the annealing point of unknown glass

You don’t have to guess at the annealing temperature for an unknown glass.  You can test for it.  It is known as the slump point test.

This test gives the softening point of the glass and from that the annealing point can be calculated.  This test removes the guess work from choosing a temperature at which to perform the anneal soak. The anneal temperature is important to the result of the firing.  This alone makes this test to give certainty about the annealing temperature worthwhile.

You can anneal soak at the calculated temperature, or at 30°C below it to reduce the anneal cool time.  This is because the annealing can occur over a range of temperatures.  The annealing occurs slowly at the top and bottom of the range. But is at least risk of "fixing in" the stress of an uneven distribution of temperature during the cool when the annealing is done at the lower end of the range.

Do not be fooled into thinking that CoE determines annealing temperatures.  Use published tables, especially the Bullseye table Annealing for Thick Slabs to determine soak times and cooling rates.  Use the standard test for determining the softening and annealing points of unknown glasses.

Further information is available in the ebook Low Temperature Kiln Forming and in Annealing Concepts Principles and Practice 

Revised 14.10.25

A Sintering Project

Ready for firing

The project is to fire 6mm “balls” stacked 3 high onto a single sheet of clear glass without significant alteration to the base sheet or to the stacked balls. This creates a total thickness of 21mm. The proposal is to sinter the whole in one firing.

Scheduling for a sinter firing needs to be done as though 2.5 times the thickest part – in this case 52mm, or 2 inches

It is slightly more risky to do this in two firings, than one, in my opinion. A suggested schedule for sintering frit using Bullseye was:

• 100ºC /180ºF — 482ºC /900ºF, 60'  =5.8 hrs

• 40ºC /72ºF — 593ºC/1100ºF,10'      =2.8

• 20ºC /36ºF — 665ºC /1230ºF,30     =4.1

• Skip to anneal temperature, soak for 6 hours =6.5

• 6.7ºC /12ºF — 427ºC /800ºF,0'       =8.2

• 12ºC /22ºF — 371ºC /700ºF,0'        =4.7

• 40ºC /72ºF — room temperature,0’ =8.8

• Off                       =40.9 hours total or 1.7 days

This was annealing as for 38mm/1.5 inches thick. Annealing for 50mm/2” thick would need about 112 hours or 4.6 days.

However this schedule was not successful – the pieces were only lightly stuck together. Thinking about why, led to the proposal that the soak time and temperature were not long or high enough to give adhesion between the pieces.

A second attempt used a faster ramp rates to higher temperatures.

• 200°C /360°F – 540°C /1004ºF, 30’ =3.2 hrs

• 60°C /108°F -625°C /1157ºF, 30’     =1.92

• 30ºC /54ºF - 685ºC /1265ºF, 120’    =4.0

• skip to anneal temperature and soak/hold for 4 hours (as for 25mm/1”)

• 15ºC /27ºF – 427ºC /800ºF, 0’        =3.67

• 27ºC /49ºF – 370ºC /700ºF, 0’        =2.11

• 90ºC /162ºF – 50ºC /122ºF, 0’       =3.56

• Off

•  = a minimum total of 18.5 hours plus natural cooling of the kiln

This schedule used a:

• faster first ramp to a higher (540ºC /1004ºF) first soak

• a faster (60ºC /108ºF, which is 150% of the previous) rate to the lower slump temperature (625ºC /1157ºF)

• the same relative reduction (50%) in rate to a higher temperature (685ºC /1265ºF)

• a shorter (120’) anneal soak

• and consequently faster cooling rates, which showed no stress after firing

The whole structure held together and was sound. There was no apparent change in the size of the individual 6mm balls.

This difference in scheduling is an illustration of how time and temperature can be interchanged.

It also shows that size matters when sintering pieces together. Higher temperatures and more time are required for dots and balls than for frit.

More information is available in my e-book Low Temperature Kilnforming, available from Bullseye, Etsy and stephen.richard43@gmail.com

Devising Slumping Schedules

A while ago Bob Leatherbarrow gave a presentation to Lunch With A Glass Artist (LWAGA) on slumping schedules. You can follow a recording of the Zoom meeting after joining the Facebook group: Lunch With A Glass Artist – Larry Pile.

The most important point for thinking about the process he brought up is his order of consideration of factors. They are:

• span
• thickness
• viscosity

How big is the unsupported part of the glass. Glass on larger span moulds will begin slumping at lower temperatures.

The thickness has an effect. With the same ramp rate thicker glass will need higher temperature.

The viscosity of the glass also affects the temperature of the slump. Low viscosity glass will slump at lower temperatures than higher ones, e.g., black vs. white.

Then you can begin to think about temperature and time. The objective is to use the lowest temperature to get the slump done in 30 minutes, so there is no marking of the glass touching the mould.

There is a lot more in the presentation to LWAGA. Join the Facebook page by answering two questions to get access.

There is even more information about fusing principles and practices in his book FiringSchedules for Kilnforming, Just Another Day at the Office.   This inexpensive eBook is worth much more than the purchase price!

A lot of information is also contained in my e-book Low Temperature Kilnforming, available from Bullseye, Etsy and from Stephen.richard43@gmail.com

Devising Slumping Schedules

A while ago Bob Leatherbarrow gave a presentation to Lunch With A Glass Artist (LWAGA) on slumping schedules. You can follow a recording of the Zoom meeting after joining the facebook group Lunch With A Glass Artist – Larry Pile.

The most important point for thinking about the process he follows is the order of slumping factors. They are:

• span

• thickness

• viscosity

How big is the unsupported part of the glass?   Glass on larger span moulds will begin slumping at lower temperatures than on smaller spans.

The thickness has an effect. With the same ramp rate thicker glass will need higher temperature or longer time.

The viscosity of the glass also affects the temperature of the slump. Low viscosity glass will slump at lower temperatures than higher ones, e.g., black vs. white.

Then you can begin to think about temperature and time. The objective is to use the lowest temperature to get the slump done in 30 minutes to avoid marking of the glass touching the mould, leaving a smooth shiny back.

There is a lot more in the presentation to LAWAGA. Join the facebook page to get access.

There is even more information about fusing principles and practices in his book Firing Schedules for Kilnforming, Just Another Day at the Office.

https://www.leatherbarrowglass.com/purchase/firing-schedules-for-kilnformed-glass

This inexpensive eBook is worth much more than the purchase price!

Rapid Ramp Rates with Soaks

I have seen many schedules with initial rates of advance interrupted by soaks.  These kinds of schedules that are written something like this:

250°C/450°F to 200°C/482°F, soak for 10 (or 20 or 30) minutes

250°C/450°F to 500°C/933°F, soak for 10 (or 20 or 30) minutes

300°C/540°F to 595°C/1100°F, soak for 10 (or 20 or 30) minutes

300°C/540°F to 677°C/1250°F, soak for 10 (or 20 or 30) minutes

330°C/600°F to working temperature (1450°, 1500° etc.)

When I have asked, I’m usually told that these are catch up pauses to allow all the glass to have an even temperature.  There are occasions when that may be a good idea, but I will come to those later.  For normal fusing, draping and slumping these soaks are not needed.

To understand why, needs a little information on the characteristics of glass.  Glass is a good insulator, and therefore a poor transmitter of heat.  Glass behaves better with a moderate steady input of heat to ensure it is distributed evenly throughout the glass.  To advance the temperature quickly during the initial heat up stages where the glass is brittle risks thermal shock. 

The soaks at intervals do not protect against a too rapid increase in temperature.  It is the rate of heat input that causes thermal shock.  Rapid heat inputs cause uneven temperatures through and across the glass.  When these temperatures are more than 5°C different across the glass, stress is not relieved.  As the temperature differential increases, so does the stress until the glass is not strong enough to contain those stresses and breaks.  At higher temperatures these stresses do not exist as the glass is less viscous.

If, as is common and illustrated in the schedule above, you advance at the same rate on both sides of the soak, the soak really does not serve any purpose – other than to make writing schedules more complicated.  If the glass survived the rate of heat input between the soaks, it will survive without the soaks.

But you may wish to be a little more careful. The same heating effect can be achieved by slowing the rate of advance.  Just consider the time used in the soak and then slow the rate by the appropriate amount.  Take the example above using 30-minute soaks:

250°C/450°F to 200°C/482°F, soak for 30 minutes

250°C/450°F to 500°C/933°F, soak for 30 minutes

This part of the schedule will take three hours.  You can achieve the same heat work by going at 167°C/300°F per hour to 500°C/933°F.  This will add the heat to the glass in a steady manner and the result will be rather like the hare and tortoise.  If you have to pause periodically because you have gone too quickly, you can reach the same end point by steady but slower input of heat without the pauses.

But, you may argue, “the periodic soaks on the way up have always worked for me.”  As you work with thicker than 6mm glass, this “quick heat, soak; quick heat, soak” cycle will not continue to work.  Each layer insulates the lower layer from the heat above.  As the number of layers increase, the greater the risk of thermal shock. Enough time needs to be given for the heat to gradually penetrate from the top to the bottom layer and across the whole area in a steady manner.

To be safest in the initial rate of advance, you should put heat into the glass in a moderate, controlled fashion.  This means a steady input of heat with no quick changes in temperature.  How do you calculate that rate?  Contrary as it may seem, start by writing out your cooling phases of the schedule.  The cooling rate to room temperature is the safe cooling rate for the final and now thicker piece.  If that final cool rate is 300°C/540°F, the appropriate heat up rate is one third of that or 100°C/180°F. 

This “one third speed” rate of advance will allow the heat to penetrate the layers in an even manner during the brittle phase of the glass.  This rate needs to be maintained until the upper end of the annealing range is passed.  This is normally around 55°C/100°F above the annealing point.

Then you can begin to write the rate of advance portion of your schedule.  It could be something like:

100°C/180°F to 540°C, no soak

225°C/405°F to bubble squeeze, soak

330°C/600°F to working temperature, soak 10 minutes

Proceed to cool segments 

I like simple schedules, so I normally stick to one rate of advance all the way to the bubble squeeze.  This could be at the softening point of the glass or start at 50°C below with a one hour rise to the softening point with a 30-minute soak there before proceeding more quickly to the working temperature.

Exceptions.

I did say I would come back to an exception about soaks on the first ramp rates  segment of the schedules.  When the glass is supported – usually in a drape – with a lot of the glass unsupported you do need to have soaks.  The kind of suspension is when draping over a cylinder or doing a handkerchief drop.  This is where a small portion of the glass is supported by a point or a long line while the rest of the glass is suspended in the air.  It also occurs when supported by steel or thick ceramic.

The soaks are not to equalise the temperature in the glass primarily.  They are to equalise the temperature between the supports and the glass.  A thick ceramic form supporting glass takes longer to heat up than the glass.  The steel of a cocktail shaker takes the heat away from the glass as it heats faster. 

The second element in this may already be obvious.  The glass in the air on a ceramic mould can heat faster than that on the mould.  The glass on a steel mould can heat faster over the steel than the suspended glass.  Both these cases mean that you need to be careful with the temperature rises.

Now, according to my arguments above, you should be able to slow the rate of advance enough to avoid breakage.  However, my experience has shown that periodic soaks in combination with gradual increases in the rates of advance are important, because it is more successful. 

An example of my rates of advance for 6mm glass supported on a steel cylinder is:

100°C/180°F to 100°C/212°F, soak 20 minutes

125°C/225°F to 200°C/392°F, soak 20 minutes

150°C/270°F to 400°C/753°F, soak 20 minutes

200°C/360°F to draping temperature

Call me inconsistent, but this has proved to be more effective than dramatically slowing the rates of advance.  This exception does not apply to slumps where the glass is supported all around by the edge of a circular or oval mould, or where it is supported at the corners of a rectangular or square one.

Another exception is where you have a lot of moisture in a mould, for example. You need to soak just under the boiling point of water to dry the mould or drive out water from other elements of your work before proceeding.  This also applies to situations where you need a burn out, of for example vegetable matter at around 500°C/933°F for several hours.

In both these cases, these are about the materials holding or contained in the glass, rather than the glass itself.

Revised 23.2.25

Tack Fusing Considerations

Initial Rate of Advance

Tack fuses look easier than full fusing, but they are really one of the most difficult types of kiln forming. Tack fusing requires much more care than full fusing.
On heat up, the pieces on top shade the heat from the base glass leading to uneven heating. So you need a slower heat up. You can get some assistance in determining this by looking at what the annealing cool rate for the piece is. A very conservative approach is needed when you have a number of pieces stacked over the base layer.  One way of thinking about this is to set your initial rate of advance at approximately twice the anneal cool rate. 

Annealing 

The tacked glass us loosely attached rather than fully formed together.  So, the glass pieces are still able, partially, to act as separate entities, meaning excellent annealing is required.

Effects of thicknesses, shapes, degree of tack

1. Tack fusing of a single additional layer on a six millimetre base

1. Rectangular pieces to be tack fused

1. Sharp, pointed pieces to be tack fused

1. Multiple layers to be tack fused

1. Degree of tack – the closer to lamination, the more time required

Glass contracts when it's cooling, and so tends to pull into itself. In a flat, symmetrical fuse this isn't much of a problem. In tack fuses where the glass components are still distinct from their neighbours, they will try to shrink into themselves and away from each other.  If there is not enough time for the glass to settle into balance, a lot of stress will be locked into the piece that either cause it to crack on cool down or to be remarkably fragile after firing.  In tack fusing there also are very uneven thicknesses, making it is hard to maintain equal temperatures across the glass.  The tack fused pieces shield the heat from the base, leading to localised hot spots during the cool down.

On difficult tack fuses it's not unusual to anneal for a thickness of two to three times greater than the thickest part of the glass.  That extended cool helps ensure that the glass has time to shift and relax as it's becoming stiffer, and keeps the temperature more even throughout.

In general, tack fused pieces should be annealed as though they are thicker pieces. Recommendations range from the rate for glass that is one thickness greater to at least twice the maximum thickness of the whole item.  Where there are right angles - squares, rectangles - or more acutely angled shapes, even more time in the annealing cool is required.

It must be remembered, especially in tack fusing, that annealing is much more than the annealing soak.  The soak is to ensure all the glass is at the same temperature, but it is the anneal cool that ensures the different thicknesses will all react together. That means tack fusing takes a lot longer than regular fusing.

  

The more rectangular or pointed the pieces there are in the piece, the greater the care in annealing is required.  Decisions on the schedule to use varies - some go up two or even four times the total thickness of the piece to choose a firing schedule.

A simple way to determine the schedule is to subtract the difference between the thickest and the thinnest part of the piece and add that number to the thickest part. If you have a 3mm section and a 12mm section, the difference is 9mm. So, add 9 to 12 and get 17mm that needs to be annealed for. This thickness applies to the heat up segments too.

Another way to estimate the schedule required is to increase the length the annealing schedule for any and each of the following factors:

The annealing schedule to be considered is the one for at least the next step up in thickness for each of the factors. If you have all five factors the annealing schedule that should be used is one for at least 21mm thick pieces according to this way of thinking about the firing.

 

4 – Testing/Experimentation

The only way you will have certainty about which to schedule to choose is to make a mock-up of the configuration you intend in clear.  You can then check for the stresses.  If you have chosen twice the thickness, and stress is showing, you need to try 3 times the thickness, etc., which can be done on the same piece.  You can reduce time by having your annealing soak at the lower end of the annealing range (for Bullseye this is 482C, rather than 516C).

You will need to do some experimentation on what works best for you. You also need to have a pair of polarisation filters to help you with determining whether you have any stress in your piece or not. If your piece is to be in opaque glasses, The mock-up in clear will be useful.

First published 18.12.2013

Revised 29.01.25

Over Annealing

 I hear the comment "you can't over anneal" all the time. Is it true?

My response to this may be controversial, and I do expect there will be some dispute with aspects of what follows.  My view of the statement “you can’t over anneal” is that it results from a lazy approach to thinking about the process.

The short answer is, in my view “yes, you can over anneal”.

• ·         Lengthy anneal soaks can induce stress in certain circumstances. More later.
• ·         Excessive annealing soaks waste time and money.
• ·         Annealing is more than the soak.  It is a combination of equalisation of the heat within the glass (not just temperature) and the gradual cooling of the glass to below the lower strain point to ensure the glass does not incorporate differences of temperature of plus or minus 5°C.

There is both tradition and research to assist in determining the length of the anneal soak.  The tradition seems to embrace 30 minutes anneal soak for each 3mm-layer of glass. The research has been done by Bullseye and they have developed a table to assist in accurately determining annealing soaks for thick glass. 

It informs users of the relationship between thickness and annealing soaks and cooling.  The table starts at 6mm/0.25" thick, and goes up to 200mm/8" thick.  The annealing soak temperature used needs to be altered for glass other than Bullseye, but the soaks, rates, and temperatures remain valid for all fusing glasses. Use the research, rather than tradition.

Other considerations include the nature of the kiln.  If your kiln has significant temperature differentials across the shelf, long annealing soaks will incorporate those differences during the annealing cool and result in a stressed piece. You do know the temperature distribution within your kiln, don’t you?  This Tech Note #1 from Bullseye will give you the information to test for the temperature distribution. Using this information will enable you to avoid the cool spots when placing your pieces and utilise the areas where the heat is even.

Economy is another reason that it is possible to over anneal.  Soaking at the annealing temperature uses a significant proportion of the electricity consumed in a firing.  This means an overly long temperature equalisation soak will use more electricity than necessary.  It also uses more kiln time than necessary, by delaying the anneal cooling and the following natural cooling rate of the kiln.

It is possible to under anneal, of course.

You need to learn about the effects of your project on annealing requirements, because it is possible to under anneal.  The research on annealing is based glass of uniform thickness. The most popular style of kilnforming appears to be tack fusing of one degree or another.  This is unfortunate for the novice, as it is the most difficult of styles to anneal adequately. There are a lot of factors to consider when setting the annealing schedule for tack fusing. 

I feel this is the origin of “can’t over anneal” thinking.  Instead of thinking about the specific annealing difficulties, many seem to just add more time in a generally random manner.  The post on tack fusing considerations (the link above) is designed to help in thinking about the requirements of the lay-up of your piece. The cumulation of factors can easily triple the annealing soak time and slow the rates by three times. 

What is the anneal?

Another problem is that most often annealing is thought of as merely a soak at the annealing point of the glass.  It is much more than that.  The annealing point is usually the temperature at which the heat within the glass is equalised in preparation for the anneal cool.  This is because the annealing temperature is that at which the glass will most quickly anneal.  Since the anneal is temperature sensitive, the equalisation of the temperatures within the glass will be most successful at getting a good anneal throughout the cool.

For two-layer flat fused items, the annealing point can be used as the heat equalisation temperature.  The soak is to get the glass within 5°C/10°F throughout the piece.  The annealing, especially with thicker or more difficult pieces, is done closer to the lower strain point. The reasons for this is to save time in the annealing cool, it is easier to maintain the small difference in temperature, and it has been shown to produce a more dense (therefore stronger) glass.  If you look at the Bullseye annealing chart, you will see how slowly thick pieces need to be cooled, so starting 35°C/ below the annealing point can save many hours of cooling.

Once the glass has equalised in temperature, the object is to cool the glass at a rate that ensures the internal temperatures do not vary more than plus or minus 5°C/10°F across and through the piece.  The rate can increase by 1.8 times the initial cool rate after the lower strain point has been reached.  This second stage rate should take the glass to around 370°C/700°F, where the rate to room temperature can be doubled as much as six times the initial cool rate.

Difficult pieces

Tack fused and other pieces with uneven thicknesses require more care in the annealing to ensure even cooling of the whole without a greater variation in temperature than +/- 5°C.  As said above, tack fusing is one of the most difficult of styles to anneal adequately and the blog entry indicates some factors requiring more careful annealing.

As an example, a piece 6mm thick, with two layers of rectangular and pointed pieces that are just barely rounded.  This adds five factors of complications for the fusing - two levels of tack fusing, rectangular pieces, pointed pieces, laminated tack fusing.  This number of complications increases the practical thickness to 21mm – 6mm of flat base, 3mm each layer of tack (6mm), 3mm for rectangles, 3mm for pointed pieces, 3mm for laminated fuse.  Because this is tack fused, the next practical step up in the table needs to be used. That is the one for 25mm, which requires a four-hour temperature equalisation soak, and 15°C per hour initial anneal cool rate.

Of course, a simpler method can be used, as it has been researched and practiced by many people.  That is simply double the thickest part of the piece and use that thickness for the anneal soak and cool.  Sharp tack profiles need to be annealed as though 2.5 times thicker, and contour profiles only need 1.5 times the thickness.

Glass other than Bullseye

It is possible to apply these times and rates to any glass of which you know the annealing point.  The annealing soak can be set above the lower strain point, which to be safe, can be taken as a point 35°C/63°F below the annealing point.

E.g., if you are annealing a 12mm slab of float glass, the annealing point of which (in the UK) is 540°C, you chose a temperature of 505°C to do your two-hour soak, followed by a cool rate of 55°C/100°F to 427°C and then 99°C/178°F per hour for the second stage cool to 370°C/700°F.  The final cool of 330°C/595°F.  So, you can see the soak times, rates and target temperatures remain the same regardless of the glass type.  

More information on long annealing soaks in a video at 13:00 minutes.

More discussion on annealing and cooling is given in the ebook Low Temperature Kilnforming from Bullseye and Etsy.

Long Annealing Soaks

You Can’t Anneal Too Long.

Can you anneal too long?

Yes, you can.

It’s not just the possible temperature differences in the kiln.  If you have temperature differentials across your kiln, any piece that crosses those boundaries will have temperature differences locked into the glass.  If you know you have temperature differentials and your glass by circumstance must be in both the cooler and the hotter regions, you need to do a standard length of soak only.  Then reduce the rate of cooling a little more than normal, so that a slower cool occurs.  This should avoid most of the stress that can be induced by very long soaks in a kiln with hot and cool spots.

The other factor against annealing too long has been revealed by Bullseye research on annealing.  This video at about 13:00 minutes into the film explains.  This complicating factor in annealing is about the difference in temperatures of the surfaces of the glass.  The research shows that the longer you anneal the greater the differential in temperature becomes between the upper and lower surfaces of the glass.  This means that you can introduce stress across the whole piece, rather than just a section as in an unevenly heated kiln.

This comes from the recording of a typical long annealing cool.

What is more, the longer you soak, the cooler the bottom becomes in relation to the top.  The reported research is described in this video at about 13:00 minutes.  It can be assumed that the air temperature differences are the cause.  Even during cooling the air is hotter on top of the shelf than under.  This would allow the bottom surface to cool more than the top. This assumption is borne out by the fact that the effect is reduced or eliminated by having elements under the shelf.

There are two reasons to avoid long soaks. Uneven temperatures across the surface are locked into the glass.  And long soaks at annealing induce an unwanted temperature differential between the top and the bottom of the piece.

More information is available in the ebook Low Temperature Kilnforming; an evidence based approach to scheduling.

Revised 29.1.25