The weeks fly by so fast...here I sit after my latest Saturday studio session thinking about the pieces I made (and wondering how I could have done better). Tomorrow Penny and I will drive by the studio and pick up the glass. Its a great rush to see the pieces at room temperture for the first time. When glass is worked hot, it goes into the annealing oven at about 900F and the colors can appear quite different at this temp. It is pretty rigid at that point, but must be slowly cooled over several hours to prevent sheer forces within its molecular structure from causing it to crack, or in the worst cases just explode. Hope I'm not jinxing myself by mentioning this possibility...I do feel pretty safe because the studio owner, Cindy McQuade, let me design and build the new annealer for her studio. I'm pretty crazy when it come to details and used some very heavy duty steel in putting it together. I will get some photos of it soon and discuss the design aspects of it that make it a little unique. Perhaps some glassblowers out there might like to use some of these ideas for there next annealer. Its been in operation for over a year now and doesn't show much wear. Well, I'm tired and the Sam Adams is chilling in the freezer...Will post some photos of the glass soon, until then, here is the annealer partially assembled in my garage...

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Dan