Old School Annealing

[chromatica]

I thought I would show you a photo of my annealing workstation. Actually it’s my kitchen table (covered with a sheet of Masonite). The torch is a Harbor Freight item with a trigger for easy ignition. The torch sits on top of a propane bottle that also serves a handy stand. The arbor is a collar made by Lee for trimming cases. (The loose arbor is for cases with a .223 bolt face.) The arbor gets pretty warm so the long shank is to keep the heat from melting my drill. I chuck up a case into the mandrel and then I strike the torch and rotate the neck/shoulder area at the tip of the blue flame. After the neck glows a dull red, I quench the case in the cup of water. Brass necks don’t really require quenching but this part of the process keeps the heat from traveling up and softening the case head. The glove is for my left hand and keeps me from burning myself when unloading hot cases right after they have been quenched. I can’t claim that this is a speedy way to process hundreds of cases, but you could do it while watching TV! I size the cases after cleaning and they go through the press like butter.

 

[22DASHER]

I’d verify your annealing technique before too long...

 

[jepp2]

After the neck glows a dull red

Your description and the appearance of the case in the photo make me believe you are heating them too hot.

You just want to get them hot enough so 750 degree Tempilaq on the interior of the case neck melts. Water quenching is not necessary on properly annealed cases.

I just use a deep socket and tip it over. The drill is in no danger of melting. Really.

I use a two torch setup, and for 223 it takes 2.3 seconds in the flame.

 

[Webster]

I thought I would show you a photo of my annealing workstation. Actually it’s my kitchen table (covered with a sheet of Masonite). The torch is a Harbor Freight item with a trigger for easy ignition. The torch sits on top of a propane bottle that also serves a handy stand. The arbor is a collar made by Lee for trimming cases. (The loose arbor is for cases with a .223 bolt face.) The arbor gets pretty warm so the long shank is to keep the heat from melting my drill. I chuck up a case into the mandrel and then I strike the torch and rotate the neck/shoulder area at the tip of the blue flame. After the neck glows a dull red, I quench the case in the cup of water. Brass necks don’t really require quenching but this part of the process keeps the heat from traveling up and softening the case head. The glove is for my left hand and keeps me from burning myself when unloading hot cases right after they have been quenched. I can’t claim that this is a speedy way to process hundreds of cases, but you could do it while watching TV! I size the cases after cleaning and they go through the press like butter.

They look over heated. Red is about 1050F.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

a long 1/4" extension and a deep socket in a drill works well for anybody wanting to try annealing

 

[Someoldguy]

a long 1/4" extension and a deep socket in a drill works well for anybody wanting to try annealing

Yep. And a darkened room so you can better identify the color change. I don't watch much TV, but I'd recommend that if your going to, wait until AFTER the brass is annealed. Annealing time is not a good time for distraction.

But I'm a 'Chevy' kinda guy. Can't afford the 'BMW', so I don't bother lookin'.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Yep. And a darkened room so you can better identify the color change.

But I'm a 'Chevy' kinda guy. Can't afford the 'BMW', so I don't bother lookin'.

use a harbor freight socket not a snap-on then- its easy to get around the BMW part and good to be a chevy guy

 

[Someoldguy]

use a harbor freight socket not a snap-on then- its easy to get around the BMW part and good to be a chevy guy

I was referring to the fancy machines, but yeah. The brass will never know if they were head-first in a $20 dollar socket or a $2 dollar socket.

I like the way you think.

 

[ireload2]

I use a color temp that produces a wet appearing aquamarine tint.
My time is 4 seconds for 7.65 Mauser and 8X57 Mauser with a single 1" propane center cone.
The tip of the center cone is 1/2" from the case mouth and I move the flame to move the aquamarine color to .100 behind the shoulder.

Not up to benchrest quality since I have never calibrated the process. But I have never over heated the brass. My cases last a long time. They group around 1.5" with old eye balls and Mauser issue sights.

 

[Twicepop]

A few years back I bought a gizmo from Woodchuck Den that is a length of copper tubing bent into about a 2" circle at one end with 8-10 holes drilled into the interior of the circle. At the other end of the tubing is a fitting that slips over the nozzle of a propane torch, and has a set screw to hold it in place. The instructions that came with it were to set the cases in water deep enough to be about half the length of the brass. Light the torch and hold the flame at the neck shoulder junction and heat until the cases start to glow a dull brown, remove the flame and knock the case over in the water to quench.

 

[wholman]

That brass looks cooked.

 

[Prose]

I anneal with twin torches exactly as Jepp2 stated above. Not calibrated but it works great. 2-3 seconds depending on case, anything more is wrecking it. I demonstrated the "springback" test to my neighbor the other night to show him what an over-annealed case looks like, and they were cooked far less than the photos from the OP.

I only drop it in water when the kids are sleeping to deaden the sound of metal on metal when it hits the pan. Otherwise the heat dissipates so rapidly it is unnecessary. Recommend @chromatica reads the annealing tips article.

 

[T-shooter]

I use a small extended socket in a drill turning slowly. Put the flame on the shoulder to body junction, not the neck. The neck cannot dissipate the heat as fast as the body can and can become overheated. I flattened my torch nozzle to it produces a flame about 1/4" wide. I keep the flame low and do everything the same each time. For .308 cases, I cook for about 7 seconds and for .223, about 5. This is all relative to the heat level. This is an old picture when I was learning to anneal. The black mark is a 450° heat crayon. Your heat ring should be about like this, not half way to the base. The brass should not get red hot. I also dump the piece of brass in water after the annealing to cool quickly.

 

[T-shooter]

use a harbor freight socket not a snap-on then- its easy to get around the BMW part and good to be a chevy guy

I'm a proud member of the ...
Ford
Auto
Racing
Team

 

[chromatica]

It is clear that I have been overcooking. I'll go out and get some 750 degree Tempilaq. Thanks for the input...

 

[JimSC]

Another suggestion Chromatica is to dump the fancy torch and use a plain jane plumbers torch. The plain plumbers torch produces a pencil flame which makes it easier to focus the heat where you want it. Which would be at neck/shoulder junction. Those Turbo style torches produce a large rosebud style flame which can cause heating too far down the case.