The samples should be annealed at 1000°C. The class should be divided up, so that each group can anneal their sample for a different time, between 8 and 80h. If there are N students in a group, then they should anneal N/2 spools. After putting the spools in the furnace, it should be thoroughly purged with the forming gas by evacuating and refilling at least three times. Next, establish a slow but continuous flow of the hydrogen containing gas and heat the furnace to 1000°C for the duration of the experiment.

After the annealing is complete, the spools should be embedded in a PMMA sample mount and cu tin half, parallel to the axis of the spool. To stabilize the pore structure for polishing, the samples should be surrounded by excesses PMMA, and put in a vacuum dessicator so that the polymer impregnates the pores before solidifying.

The samples can then be ground and polished to a mirror finish (be sure to grind through the region of damage created by the saw cut). Take optical micrographs of the unannealed and annealed specimens at an appropriate magnification to illustrate features you wish to discuss in your report. Make sure that you measure the field of view in the microscope, so that you can put scale bars on your images.