what temp to soften glass so gravity makes it flow

nope.

"Cheryl" wrote in message
...

Go up about 500/hr to around 1500F


all good tips -- but many mention of Grey Goose bottles

--- what about the enamel on them??????
if it is low temp enamel -- it's going to go bye bye at those temps.....


Cheryl
DRAGON BEADS
Flameworked beads and glass
http://www.dragonbeads.com/

Let me be a bit more specific :
The oven should be brought up to the assumed temperature and stabilized for
about 2 hours. This is about the length of time it takes for an oven to take
on energy. Once stabilized the rod is checked after an hour. If you need to
raise or lower the temperature to establish the softening point you will
need to spend another two hours stabilizing the temperature at the
temperature that the oven is being raised or lowered to. The high end
annealing temperature on average is 50 deg. F (27 deg. C) below the
softening point. The thicker the work the less you drop the temperature from
the softening point. Most castings should probably be annealed close to the
softening point in order to speed up the annealing process a bit. If I told
you 90 deg. F then it was a misstatement on my part. I hope my mistake did
not screw up any of your work. I have always used the 50 deg. F
differential. If you have my book go to page 19 for the correct procedure.
If you have an early version of my book, 3rd edition, the deg. C quoted on
that page is wrong the Fahrenheit is correct though. To establish relative
temperatures from Fahrenheit to Centigrade it is a 5/9 ratio. Example 50
deg. F is divided by 9 and then multiplied by 5. The annealing temperature
for specific types of objects can vary. Thin stemmed goblets should probably
be annealed at 75 deg. F differential to avoid the possibility of slumped
stems. Most all other objects will fall within the 50 deg. F range.
Annealing can be accomplished at any temperature within the transition range
but the closer you get to the strain point the longer it will take. As a
matter of fact the lower you go from the high end to the strain point the
time differential becomes exponential in time to anneal. That is why it is
sometimes important to know the actual strain point rather than guessing.

Gee, Henry, thanks for the info, except I thought that the last time you
corrected me, you were the one that said 50C (90F) not 50F. In any case,
isn't a 50F step a little big, especially if you are going to back off 50F
for annealing, and hold for an hour a bit long?

I mean the rod is cantilevered, that is, only one end is held suspended
between two IFB's. An easier way is to take the rod and just lean it in the
corner of the oven at a 45 deg. angle.

"Henry Halem" wrote in message
...

You will need a rod approx.18" long and about the thickness of a pencil
fabricated from the glass you will be slumping. This rod is suspended at
one
end between two IFB's.

I think that you mean suspended between two IFBs, one at each end of the
rod, Henry.

Or are you using the old softening point determination method, where you
follow the position of the end of the vertically-suspended rod or fibre with
a travelling microscope as the temperature rises?

"Henry Halem" wrote in message
...
I mean the rod is cantilevered, that is, only one end is held suspended
between two IFB's. An easier way is to take the rod and just lean it in
the
corner of the oven at a 45 deg. angle.

Ah, that makes more sense. Thanks.
--
Terry Harper
http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/