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A REALLY Simple DIY Induction Annealer

CarlGeorge

CarlGeorge

[I looked through the threads and couldn't find this solution referenced yet.....]

I love the thought of induction annealing. (Simple. Consistent.) I don't like the price tags.

I love the various DIY induction projects that have been documented here, but they're more DIY than I have the desire or skill to take on.

I currently use a Benchsource. I love it relative to not annealing at all. The overhead of setting it up for a session, calibrating it, etc. is less than ideal.

I stumbled on this induction solution last night. WAY simple. Obviously not elegant. But it seems like you'd very much be able to get the case-to-case consistency, which is what I'm most interested in. If I were to go this route I'd probably try to work out some sort of manual method to bring the case to the unit rather than the other way around.

Has anyone seen this? Thoughts?

 
How bout a turn table with a hole and a speed control. You vary the speed of the turn table to get the time you need then the case drops into the hole once it's annealed. I'm thinking more of a horizontal version of the DIY propane annealers people make. Cost would be minimal. Just need to keep the case centered so it doesn't touch the coils as the turn table spins under the case. Just off the top of my head.
 
I'm wondering if I could set it up physically so the coil is where the die goes - and use the press's ram to raise the case into the coil.....while watching the relay's display to ensure it's in the coil during the power cycle.

Have my left hand gloved so the hot case can be taken out of the shellholder - then the next one goes in.

20211114_155317.jpg
 
Even better than my turn table idea. I have a case kicker on my Rock Chucker that kicks the case into a wire basket, wouldn't have to touch a hot case. Darn! now I need to spend $200.00 on something I hadn't thought of buying till I looked at this thread!
 
CarlGeorge said:
I'm wondering if I could set it up physically so the coil is where the die goes - and use the press's ram to raise the case into the coil.....while watching the relay's display to ensure it's in the coil during the power cycle.

Have my left hand gloved so the hot case can be taken out of the shellholder - then the next one goes in.

View attachment 1292949
Click to expand...
Having so much ferrous material so close to the coil might be a problem.
 
I have built similar to the one in the video with a hatch door so I can release the annealed case. It has ON/OFF timer. It works great at least I think it does.
I don't have a way to compare the quality of two annealed brass cases between my AMP and my DIY machine.
 
I got inconsistent temperatures while annealing. Under annealed means the brass is not annealed, over annealed means the brass is to soft. This leads to inconsistent neck tension which leads to sds that are all over the place. Maybe I got a bad unit? All I know is it didn’t work for me. Sorry if I offended anyone.
 
G Liles said:
I got inconsistent temperatures while annealing. Under annealed means the brass is not annealed, over annealed means the brass is to soft. This leads to inconsistent neck tension which leads to sds that are all over the place. Maybe I got a bad unit? All I know is it didn’t work for me. Sorry if I offended anyone.
Click to expand...

I feel it's much tougher to get the right annealing temperature with an induction annealed than with a gas set up. There temperature is so dependent on the amount of brass inside the coils, including the thickness of the brass. This is why the AMP annealer's instructions are for testing a case to find the correct code for the correct temperature. Even with gas, it takes a some adjusting to get it right, but I feel it's much easier than with an induction setup.
 
Here are instructions for a very simple build that will cost $75-$150 depending on what you have to buy and the add-ons that you decide to incorporate.
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/homemade-induction-annealer.6966638/

Within a page or so, the OP decided that a water cooling loop for the coil is important to prevent the coil from getting too hot going through a lot of cases quickly.

I built a simple one with water cooling and it works great. I think mine was about $150.

Yes, you need to have the case in a consistent position within the coil for consistent results, but as long as you're using the same brand of brass (maybe same lot # too depending on the quality of the brass) and have the position consistent, it's easy to get consistent results.

To figure out the time and position that works best, you can just trial and error it in a dark room with the same piece of brass letting it cool between tests and starting low so you don't melt it. It has increased the consistency of my seating force quite a bit.
 
I tried this last April. I didn’t consider it much of a risk as I had been wanting an induction heater for my toolbox in the garage anyway. I figured if the unit didn’t work on brass, it would go to the garage for stubborn rusty nuts and bolts. I used a line voltage timer, which I think simplified the wiring quite a bit, a 6’ appliance whip from menards and a leftover plastic 9mm Blazer Brass ammo can.
I can say it does a great job on 223’s. Anything bigger, and it will overheat just like others have found. I did 3 wraps of a coil around a 30-06, with an on time of 2.3 seconds, and my 223’s came out great.
I had the wiring and timer setup before the heater arrived and played around with it by plugging in a light. 669413D0-3268-4B84-BDA0-35446D080D9D.jpeg
 

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