what temp to soften glass so gravity makes it flow

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.

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.