[Jewelry making - Article 00342] - [Orchid] Kiln annealing S Silver 32 gauge knitted chain

[Carmel]

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Hi,

    I am very new to this forum and need a bit of help with annealing my
    project. 

    I am knitting 32 gauge sterling silver dead soft wire (not fine
    silver wire because it kept breaking). After knitting, I pass it a
    few times through a small hole drilled into a fiber glass plate to
    stretch and stabilize the stitches. 

    At this point I would like to anneal the chain in my kiln, so that
    it remains as soft and supple as possible, because the next part of
    the work (threading beads with a small hole) compresses and stretches
    the knitted chain a bit more (hardens it more). 

    To use the kiln, I thought about rolling the chain around a ceramic
    kiln prop, perhaps with batwash on the prop and suspend the prop
    horizontal on some metal bracket contraption, so the chain touches
    only the prop, not the kiln shelf. I use batwash for glass work, so
    the glass does not stick to the shelf, but don't know if this is
    necessary with sterling silver. 

    Questions are: 

    What temperature should I go up to?
    Quickly up to that temperature (kiln at 100%), thus in a short
    time, or in slow steps?
    Cooling down in water, naturally in air, another way?

    Will this create fire scale?

    If yes, how do I clean it? The easiest method? I am set up for glass
    work, but not for much metal work...pickling always sounds somewhat
    intimidating, but perhaps it isn't? 

    Hope these are not too many questions, and that someone can help me. 

Many thanks, Carmel
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