Annealing - first attempt

[stroked96s10]

So I have access to various tools and equipment at work, maintenance, and I had some free time. I drew up a little drawing just playing with ideas and ended up throwing it together. I know it's not pefect or the most beautiful thing, but after a test run and only $51, including a bottle ot 750 tempilaq, I think this should do the trick. Bought a cheap Lee press and knocked the top off. Still need to make a slide for the case to go down the back side in to water. The case in the pic has no tempilaq on it, just seeing getting my angles right with the 223 case as a trial run. Heats up fast I found out! Any suggestions/comments/criticism welcome - after all, I'm still learning

 

[CatShooter]

So I have access to various tools and equipment at work, maintenance, and I had some free time. I drew up a little drawing just playing with ideas and ended up throwing it together. I know it's not pefect or the most beautiful thing, but after a test run and only $51, including a bottle ot 750 tempilaq, I think this should do the trick. Bought a cheap Lee press and knocked the top off. Still need to make a slide for the case to go down the back side in to water. The case in the pic has no tempilaq on it, just seeing getting my angles right with the 223 case as a trial run. Heats up fast I found out! Any suggestions/comments/criticism welcome - after all, I'm still learning

Almost nobody uses water anymore... water was used a long time ago to sit cases in it to heat the necks crudely... now, almost everyone uses a batery powered screwdriver, and puts the cases in a socket to turn it, then drops the case on aluminum foil - the whole thing costs ~$25.

 

[Patch700]

Cant see why that wouldnt work... To speed things up i would sacrifice a shellholder and epoxy a quarter to it so you merely flick them off after you lower the ram.

Also as mentioned i would pass on the water and simply lay a towel down on the backside with tin foil on it.

Nice project.

 

[stroked96s10]

Yeah I wasn't going to use water at first, but I've since had several people I know in person tell me they always used water... So yeah, maybe my first train of thought to not use water was the right route. I know it's a little more extravagent than it needs to be but I did it to practice welding and because I like DIY kinda stuff. So win win in my eyes.

 

[nmkid]

Nice set up. I have a place on one of my benches for that!! Yeah...Forget the water.

 

[1066]

Good job there. With a bit more thought you could've added that to a stage on your turret press.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Yeah, right next to the powder measure.

 

[Eraser]

Almost nobody uses water anymore... water was used a long time ago to sit cases in it to heat the necks crudely... now, almost everyone uses a batery powered screwdriver, and puts the cases in a socket to turn it, then drops the case on aluminum foil - the whole thing costs ~$25.
[/quote]

What is the foil for?

 

[CatShooter]

Almost nobody uses water anymore... water was used a long time ago to sit cases in it to heat the necks crudely... now, almost everyone uses a batery powered screwdriver, and puts the cases in a socket to turn it, then drops the case on aluminum foil - the whole thing costs ~$25.

What is the foil for?
[/quote]


To drop the hot cases on, otherwise they will burn the small towel that is on the bench.

 

[jlow]

Using the press to raise the case into the flame is a good idea – this gives you excellent reproducibility in terms of position of the case relative to the two burners. It also allows you to easily control the introduction and removal of the case. Your potential weakness is 1) annealing time which is dependent on how well you control the timing of the heating and 2) how even the heating is since the brass does not rotate. My guess is you are OK since you use two burners.

About the water thing – it’s a myth that has been perpetuated for ever on the internet. Absolutely unnecessary as the heat does not go to the head if you heat the right place for the right amount of time. You can verify this using tempilaq.

 

[boltfluter]

Nicely done. Great idea with the press.

Paul

www.boltfluting.com

 

[DennisH]

Forgive me for being picky, but I have your best interest at heart.

I fully opened the picture as something didn't look right.

The neck IMO is cherry red and "way" to hot. If I see the hint of red in a dark room while annealing, the brass drops.

Everybody, take a close look at this. I know we all want to make sure it's being done correctly. I know the heat shown will definitely melt 750 deg templac.

Maybe it's my old eyes! But lets make sure.

Dennis

 

[DennisH]

PS: It would be nice to rotate the brass and only use one torch for 223 cases.

Again, JMO

 

[OldmanFCSA]

Case shown for demo purposes is definitely over heated.
I'm sure that in normal operation, he does not heat this hot.

As to quenching, if you ever pick up a hot casing, you will wish that you were quenching in cold water.

I quench in cold water treated with a healthy dose of LemiShine which removes the Annealing discoloration, resulting in clean looking brass. I tumble with SS Pin process before annealing as to not burn impurities into case neck.

YMMV.

 

[Juma]

Once the heat source is removed annealing does not continue to travel down the neck. Could you explain the last comment about burning the impurities into the neck.

 

[DennisH]

I quench in cold water treated with a healthy dose of LemiShine which removes the Annealing discoloration, resulting in clean looking brass.

Never tried this, I will have to do so on my next annealing! You have any other processes up your sleeve?

Dennis

 

[jlow]

As to quenching, if you ever pick up a hot casing, you will wish that you were quenching in cold water.

Hot to the fingers does not = annealing temperature.

It does not take much to burn your fingers but to anneal in a few seconds require the brass to be at 750 degrees F which is a whole different animal….

This is how if one does not look at the details, internet myths gets generated.

 

[LHSmith]

To be honest, you're reinventing the wheel....a bad attempt at best...the non rotating design requires 2 torches ...but that set-up will guarantee over-annealing resulting in dead soft necks (brass= scrap). True the Bench Source utilizes 2 torches....but can you replicate the exact timing of a microprocessor? Can't beat a cordless drill/ socket/ single torch (propane)/ timing source (metronome) for simplicity and effectiveness.

 

[OldmanFCSA]

Back when I was learning to anneal brass, I heated with a propane torch with tip pointed upward at same angle as shoulder and pointed about 1/4" below shoulder. I heated until neck and shoulder were RED hot, almost orange. Then quenched in water.

Now, I've been told that I scrapped the brass by making it dead soft.

With brass of unknown source, I end up resizing it 6 times which may work harden it slightly. (Size, rotate 120, size, rotate 120, size. Then repeat the sizing process after neck-turning and length trimming.)

Anyway, I decided to donate this SCRAP brass to a new young shooter who was stationed in Afghanistan as a Christmas Gift, who after coming home to Mankato, MN, loaded it under my supervision and proceeded to shoot 5" groups at a FCSA 1000 yard Match beating most other shooters. He finished 2nd Overall for his first match.

So, what makes it scrap ???

 

[OldmanFCSA]

Once the heat source is removed annealing does not continue to travel down the neck. Could you explain the last comment about burning the impurities into the neck.

Heat does not immediately stop traveling down the neck - it proceeds down the case until the cold of lower case body normalizes the hot of the annealed area. Try it, anneal while holding in your fingers, then continue to hold in your fingers until the temperature normalizes. Then as you drop it because it is too hot to handle, tell me "Once the heat source is removed annealing does not continue to travel down the neck."

Any soot-lube-tumbling media will be burnt as annealing process proceeds. Can you tell me without a single doubt that this material will not affect the brass material and the transfer of heat evenly? I prefer to anneal brass, not contaminated brass.

YMMV. = Your Method May Vary.