Tempilstik for anealing

[rasp65]

Has anyone used Tempilstiks while anealing case necks? I read somewhere that they worked good at indicating temp. It does not seem to stick that well to the case.

 

[Spotcheck_Billy]

You might think about the Hornady Annealing System until you learn the correct color that the brass should look and can trust yourself to rely on the appearance of the case necks without an outside aid. The kit includes a liquid version of the stick which is easier to use and three neat case holders.

Midway carries it, # 360-902 about $40

 

[Preacher]

Seeing that you asked about temp sticks and not about color...

When I was using the sticks, I brought the cases up to a little heat and then applied the sticks, it seemed to work better than trying to get it to stick on a cold case. Then keep bringing the heat up until you see it just start to melt, and your good to go.....
The faster you can bring the neck heat up to the correct temperature the better off you'll be... don't forget to dunk them in cold water so you don't end up with a problem of getting the heads to soft........
After you have annealed a bunch of them you'll start to see the color changes that Spotcheck mentioned, and you can go from there...
Now that my Light annealer is being used I don't fool with the sticks anymore.....

 

[rasp65]

Thanks for the info. In the past I chucked the brass into a Lee case holder and rotated it in a power screwdriver, then dunked it into the water.I read that if you heat it until it just starts to turn pink then that's as far as you go. But I had trouble telling when I reached that point. Is it better to actually handle the brass withyour fingers?

 

[Preacher]

Rasp-
They get hot enough that you won't hold em very long with your fingers, leather gloves will help but the Lee holder is fine to use unless your doing 1000's of them
The color changes are hard to tell until you've done a bunch of them and get the hang of it. Do them in dark conditions so you can see the changes better...
When I'm running cases in the Light annealer they turn out really good when the color just starts to go to a light Orange.... and when they are done they have a faint blue line just down from the neck- shoulder junction....
Find a few junk cases to practice your colors on, and when you have it down pat, toss the sticks....

 

[JayIdaho]

Templac works a lot better than Temp Sticks, IMO, for annealing brass.
The Temp sticks works good for larger things, like when preheating something for welding or getting a part up to a draw temp. I've seen them used on aircraft tires to determine if the tires got too hot when the aircraft had to use the brakes to extreme.
Brass heats up and cools down too fast to effectively use the Temp stick crayons.

 

[HHI6818]

Ken Light makes a annealing machince.

http://www.kenlightmfg.com/products.html