Affordable Annealing Machines

[f18hornet]

I'd like to get an annealing machine if I can locate one in my budget. I saw some homemade units that looked pretty good. I could anneal the old-fashioned way, but my concern would be consistency.

Any suggestions? Certainly a used unit would be one place to start.....

 

[Boxcar77]

Without knowing your budget. The cheapest if the lot is the annealeeze @ $275.00. Still cheaper then a Giraud.

http://annealeez.ddns.net

 

[22DASHER]

Without knowing your budget. The cheapest if the lot is the annealeeze @ $275.00. Still cheaper then a Giraud.

http://annealeez.ddns.net

+1 A buddy of mine just got one and swears by it! I cannot wait to get down there and try it myself!

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Build your own. They work very nice for $100

 

[1066]

I'd like to get an annealing machine if I can locate one in my budget. I saw some homemade units that looked pretty good. I could anneal the old-fashioned way, but my concern would be consistency.

Any suggestions? Certainly a used unit would be one place to start.....

If you've got even basic hand work skills I'd certainly have a serious look at making one yourself - There's a well tested design that's been fully documented, with a list of readily available parts. The "Mr Longrange/Skippy" design does everything a commercial machine will do, variable speed, auto feed etc. and could be put together for about $100

 

[22DASHER]

Could you guys post some versions of this home made design? Pics, directions, etc?

 

[jimcasey01]

Could you guys post some versions of this home made design? Pics, directions, etc?

If you do a search on this site, a few months ago I posted pictures and a materials list in a thread. I have done a few thousand pieces of brass since then (a friend is having me do his brass also when I run mine ) I am happy to report that I have had no unpleasant surprises so far. Good Luck. Jim Casey

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3874685.msg36582007#msg36582007

 

[1066]

Could you guys post some versions of this home made design? Pics, directions, etc?

Well here's a couple of my designs but there not the simplest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv75-9p9yFA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssAYLvHIw0E

 

[jimcasey01]

1066, very nice.

 

[f18hornet]

Here's one that looks neat. I think I could make one if I had suitable motors:

https://youtu.be/9TMe5qcYILM

Here's another that's similar:

https://youtu.be/nA2YS9C4MeM

The motor that turns the table would have to be adjustable speed. The other one maybe not.

 

[jimcasey01]

Here's one that looks neat. I think I could make one if I had suitable motors:

https://youtu.be/9TMe5qcYILM

Here's another that's similar:

https://youtu.be/nA2YS9C4MeM

The motor that turns the table would have to be adjustable speed. The other one maybe not.

You can use a PWM to control motor speeds, about $10 and very simple to install.

 

[queen_stick]

tagged for future reference

 

[22DASHER]

Could somebody help me identify some of these components, where to buy them, and some input that would help build this? I might tackle a build like this…

https://youtu.be/9TMe5qcYILM

Here are some pics of the build:

Thanks!

 

[Mozella]

I would recommend a home brew "Skip" design machine. You can make one for a hundred bucks and some have done them for fifty; however, mine cost a bit more 'cause I went a little bit fancier than some.

I do my best to reduce handling individual cases as much as possible and the thought of using a horizontal machine where you have load each and every round is not appealing to me. The "Skip" designs usually have a hopper where you can load up a hundred rounds or so and then sit back and watch it run.

Mine has adjustable anneal time adjustable to about a tenth of a second. Since this photo was made I added an automatic sensor to the feed drum so that it stays in sync with the annealing drum plus I added a case counter just for fun; additional cost about 10 bucks. It turns out that knowing how many cases you just annealed is a nice feature.

There is another gun forum with complete instructions, dimensions, parts sources, etc for this kind of machine which makes it MUCH easier to fabricate one for yourself. I made mine with ordinary reloading hand tools we all have on hand plus a cheap little drill press, a cordless drill, and a Dremel tool. If you're clever, you could do without the drill press, but it's nice to have or you could borrow 10 minutes time on your friends drill press.

_DSC3271

 

[shootnjunky]

Could you guys post some versions of this home made design? Pics, directions, etc?

Well here's a couple of my designs but there not the simplest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv75-9p9yFA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssAYLvHIw0E

1066 do you sell either of them?

 

[gaboon]

I built one of Skips Aussie designs for less than 100dollars. It works great.

 

[rkittine]

There is a thread on www.Burntpowder.com regarding home building of an annealing machine. Over the life of the thread the guy who made it added a number of features, mechanical counter etc. Going through the thread you can see what he did and how he did it.

I am not that handy making things, so I just had him build me one.

Bob

 

[Joe R]

f18hornet said:

I'd like to get an annealing machine if I can locate one in my budget. I saw some homemade units that looked pretty good. I could anneal the old-fashioned way, but my concern would be consistency.

Any suggestions? Certainly a used unit would be one place to start.....

Here's a link to plans with a materials list and where to buy them https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bb_cm10J8urCM2PtKql8VyHtGlovTeI3RnAj7xa0eX0/edit

Here's a link to pictures that are helpful http://68forums.com/forums/showthread.php?54267-75-DIY-Automatic-Case-Annealer-Project-Complete!-Plans-and-parts-list-included!

Kindest regards,

Joe

 

[amlevin]

The key to uniform annealing is the position of the neck in the flame and the total "flame time".

One can achieve this as simply as making a rest for their cordless drill that will hold the case in the flame in the same position each time. To "time" the amount of flame time, you can purchase a credit card sized "Metronome" to keep your counting even.

Socket ~$5
Adapter~$3

Metronome ~$16 (@ Musician's Friend)


Chances are you already have cordless drill or cordless screwdriver and torch on hand.

That makes a "traditional" method pretty darn inexpensive.

The big thing is the amount of brass you are annealing. 100 cases every few weeks? Or several thousand in the same amount of time. There's a lot to like about a machine you can "fill and forget" for a while over all the other ones that require "hand feeding".

 

[1066]

The key to uniform annealing is the position of the neck in the flame and the total "flame time".

One can achieve this as simply as making a rest for their cordless drill that will hold the case in the flame in the same position each time. To "time" the amount of flame time, you can purchase a credit card sized "Metronome" to keep your counting even.

Socket ~$5
Adapter~$3

Metronome ~$16 (@ Musician's Friend)


Chances are you already have cordless drill or cordless screwdriver and torch on hand.

That makes a "traditional" method pretty darn inexpensive.

The big thing is the amount of brass you are annealing. 100 cases every few weeks? Or several thousand in the same amount of time. There's a lot to like about a machine you can "fill and forget" for a while over all the other ones that require "hand feeding".

If you're going to need to time your process, there's plenty of free stopwatch/metronome timer apps for smartphones.