cheap homemade brass annealer machine, this one is powered by a drill

[gunlover05]

So I decided to make my own brass annealing machine, but didn't want to take the time to order a bunch of parts such as motors, ac/dc converters, and controllers. I'm not a high volume reloader, so it didn't have to be fully automatic. But having consistent time on the flame is important as I learned. So I watched a lot of youtube videos on annealing machines, and decided to make my own powered by my cordless drill, using gear reduction principles. I did buy a $5 lazy susan bearing from ace hardware. Pardon the mess on my bench too

.

I put some nonslip tape on the back of the 9" cake pan, and some gorilla tape on the drill chuck to grip better. I used a pipe clamp to control the speed of the drill, which was on the low speed setting, and I can just hold it against the back of the pan to power the pan. Most everything I had in my garage to build it, except the cake pan ($8). Below is a short youtube clip of a few cycles. I'm sure there are easier ways, but it was fun to build on a cold winter weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6sm4cmNADw

 

[1newmexkid]

Well, if there is a need there is a way. Good job.

 

[jonbearman]

Can you make a video of how well it works for us?

 

[gunlover05]

hello jonbearman, there is a youtube video link, here

 

[gunlover05]

Here are some more lessons learned for those thinking of building something like this.

- cake pan: the real cheap ones ($0.88/e) at walmart have a lip that I believe is angled too much and I don't think will work. I bought one made of thicker metal and much shallower angle on the sides which cost @ $8-10. Cutting the lip off of the pan with a dremmel tool is a real pain in the rear. I went through probably 10 disks, most wore down or broke off within 2" of cutting.

- entrance/exit slot. I cut mine too big early on, so you will see it taped back on there. suggest to start small and don't cut more than 1" until you have tried everything else!

- case ramp - made mine from bent aluminum sheet. do not screw it down, experiment with different angles and use a clamp. You will also need some kind of spacer to move the case up to the level of the pan. I just put a hollow rod there with another clamp as you can see. Will need to fix something more permanent.

- Timing - this was the tricky part. motor speed, angle of ramp, case stop position. This just takes lots of trial and error imo, just don't get frustrated.

- Forget the position of the propane torch until the very end. you will want some ability to move/tweak the position a little, esp with different case sizes.

- drill- again needed something on the chuck and back of the plate for grip. Also a 2 speed drill is probably needed to get it slow enough, and I used a hose clamp around the trigger to adjust speed. This is touchy, but once I got the right speed it stayed constant.

- I was using 260 and 308 brass as my focus. I tried 30-06 and it worked too. just need to tweak positioning of the propane, mine is not too rigid.

- Leaning the whole thing back 15 degrees or so was needed to keep the cases from falling out.

- bearing- I used a cheap lazy susan bearing for the pan ($5 at ace), but it is possible to use something else i'm sure.

- I may eventually put a dedicated motor on here with a controller, I think the parts are @ $75 or so. Anyhow, yes it is kind of crude as a first shot, but was fun to make. With some knowledge I learned I may improve it one day, but for now it works fine.

 

[rkittine]

Nice work. Great, simple rig. I am not that handy, but there was a guy on BurntPowder.com that build one for me that works great. Somewhere in my attic, along with my 1949 Lionel Trains, I have an original Red Metal Box (that us old timers I am sure remember) Erector Set. Probably could Rube Goldberg something out of that! Ever since that first You-Tube of a home made annealer using a pie pan, I bet the pie pan manufacturers think there has been a resurgence in home baking!

Bob

 

[billlarson]

So I decided to make my own brass annealing machine, but didn't want to take the time to order a bunch of parts such as motors, ac/dc converters, and controllers. I'm not a high volume reloader, so it didn't have to be fully automatic. But having consistent time on the flame is important as I learned. So I watched a lot of youtube videos on annealing machines, and decided to make my own powered by my cordless drill, using gear reduction principles. I did buy a $5 lazy susan bearing from ace hardware. Pardon the mess on my bench too

.

I put some nonslip tape on the back of the 9" cake pan, and some gorilla tape on the drill chuck to grip better. I used a pipe clamp to control the speed of the drill, which was on the low speed setting, and I can just hold it against the back of the pan to power the pan. Most everything I had in my garage to build it, except the cake pan ($8). Below is a short youtube clip of a few cycles. I'm sure there are easier ways, but it was fun to build on a cold winter weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6sm4cmNADw

Really great innovation......

 

[Road_Clam]

That's pretty slick ! You are now rightfully dubbed the annealing Macgyver !

 

[Brians356]

Did you have an Erector set when you were a kid?

 

[gunlover05]

Did you have an Erector set when you were a kid?

No, an erector set was an expensive toy when I was a kid. I suppose I am somewhat mechanically inclined. Being raised on a farm when I was a child, we fixed whatever was broken, equipment, cars, and all. Will give my father credit for teaching me not to be afraid to dive in and fix or build something yourself. He did it because he couldn't afford to pay anyone else to do it. While I did get a mechanical engineering undergraduate degree over 20 years ago, it has been almost that long that I applied any of that professionally. Now I just tinker when I get the chance, and every so often fix or build something myself. Jumping in and trying is 75% of the battle ;-)

 

[BennyS]

I splurged and spent 98 dollars!!! it works

 

[Danattherock]

^^^ Anneal-Rite pictured above.


OP,

That's slick man. Nicely done.

Just bought two torches for my Anneal-Rite today. Manually operated and cheap. Still want $275 Annealeez but giving Anneal-Rite the college try first. Many ways to skin a cat. Yours is most creative for sure.

Dan

 

[gilream]

My hat is off to you sir! Very clever. Did you calibrate the heat vs. time equation using tempilaq? It appears that the case is in the flame for a full 8 seconds. A bit longer than what I am used to but I am sure that your case is a little farther from the tip of the blue flame.

 

[spclark]

I've gathered parts to build a machine to Skip's design, wondering now if I can hybridize something using those parts to build on gunlover05's thinking? I like the friction-drive concept for the cake pan along with lazy susan bearing over direct-drive.

Lots of clever folks here, good ideas abound!

 

[Dranmelex]

Have you had any issues with the amount of time in the flame as the drill battery reduces in charge and causes brass to be in flame longer?