Annealing
You read everywhere that the handcrafted lampwork beads you buy absolutely must be kiln annealed to ensure durability. You're likely thinking: What exactly is "annealed"?
Annealing isn't a hip label for spiritually-minded artisans who kneel to pray for your
lampwork beads; ultimately, it's a process that does, indeed, ensure the fate of your
glass. Annealing involves the heating and slow cooling of glass bead to ensure a tougher core and reduce brittleness. Molecularly speaking, it makes the atoms aligned
and happy.
Yes, even atoms look good in the glass bead you buy from Austin Hamilton. How? After heating and cooling the glass many times to create the designs and brilliant
colors that you see in the finished work of art, the glass is stressed out. Kiln
annealing reduces that stress. Think of annealing as the ultimate day spa experience
for glass bead.
By slowly reducing tension through a very controlled cooling process, a delightful
dip in its very own whirlpool spa, the lampwork beads are healed, or kiln annealed,
back to a far less fragile state of being. The specific soaking time for each bead
depends on the type of glass that is used to make the lampwork beads. Some like it hot, while others do not.
As long as you don't tie your necklace to the train tracks, you're pretty much
guaranteed to get a great looking, long lasting lampwork beads through the process of annealing.
