It's aliiiiiive! My janky homemade annealer

[Rmeju]

So, I've started trying my hand at precision rifle, and I'm getting to the point where I need to anneal. I've never actually annealed anything, but I've built this homemade annealer for once I figure out exactly how not to over/under do the heating process.

I started with plans I found posted on some other board, and made a few mods that I thought were helpful. Below is the result:



As I said, I don't actually know how to do the annealing. Of course, I've read the theory (i.e. don't over anneal...that's dangerous; don't underanneal, that doesn't do anything). My annealer lets me control the timing of the flame on the brass, but how long to put it in? So much of the information on that single, critical part is confusing, vague, or conflicting. Ideally, I'd like not to have to use Tempilaq unless it's necessary, at least not for all the individual pieces, since that'd sort of kill the efficiency of the machine. Is there a reliable way to "tell" when the brass has been cooked just right?

I've gotta be thinking I've got the hard part done. I just don't want to ruin a bunch of brass, particularly by making it dangerously soft. Any help would be appreciated!

ETA: For those who want the plans, they are now attached. Honestly, they were not that great, missed some really important steps, and I had a bunch of leftover parts that I needed to return to Home Depot when I was done, but they were a good start, and I limped the rest of the way there. Final product was worth it though! PM me if you try to build it and run into trouble. I'll help as best I can!

 

[KansasSasquatch]

I'd be interested in those plans if you don't mind sharing.

I'm no expert on annealing but I would think that putting Tempilaq on the first 5-10 pieces of every batch would allow you to get the machine set up. Once set, I wouldn't think there'd be any further need for the Tempilaq. I imagine different cartridges would require a different amount of time, such as going from .223Rem to .308Win.

 

[rondog]

Looks great! But IMO, it's running too fast, and the torch might be a tad far away

 

[Walkalong]

Very nice.

 

[FROGO207]

Looks like a good build! I would agree with post #2. Set it up with fastest settings and use Tempilaq to get settings correct for that particular type of brass. Then mark or note speed setting. As long as speed and heat source were set up the same each session for that particular caliber brass the results should be repeatable without lots of fuss or retesting.

 

[Duvel]

I'm not supposed to post before the first cup of coffee has fully circulated, but that's totally badass!

Pretty sure you'll need to adjust timing and position of heat, but once it's set

 

[Saintsfan1977]

750 degrees Tempilaq in the case the case mouth and 450 degree on the case body. Use a stop watch to time the melting of the 750. Then adjust the speed of the wheel to drop the case at the time you recorded. It will save you from you experimenting with brass.

I dont have one and never annealed but from everything I have read, this is what I would do.

 

[1066]

That looks a solid job and is obviously going to work well.

As has been said, the burner needs to be much closer, maybe 1-1.5 inches away, the inner blue cone just touching the neck/shoulder area.

Tempilaq will get you started (inside of case neck) but once you have played with the machine for a while you will get the feel and not need it.

You could also run it in a darkened room with some sacrificial brass and watch for it to just start to glow red - this is too hot so would need to be cut back by about 20% of time. Say 10 seconds to just glowing so cut back to about 8 seconds for a standard .308 type case

You could also watch for the flame to change colour, this occurs at around 870F, just a little hotter than we need, so again back off just a little.

Cases don't need to be quenched in water, it makes no difference to the brass, just stops you burning your fingers.

You can't rely on colour change - freshly cleaned, tumbled brass will show very little colour change, the same brass that has been standing a week may show a classic blue change.

Through my machines, with a single torch set-up I find 7-8 seconds for .308 type cases is about usual. My 6.5-284 about 9 seconds and .223 about 6 seconds. That's just a guide, there's many variables.

Here's a couple of my machines:

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

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssAYLvHIw0E

 

[dh1633pm]

All I can say is very cool. Good work.

 

[CANNONMAN]

I just love it! I make my own powder, shot, molds etc. Glad it lives! I wouldn't you get plenty of plan requests. Congratulations.

 

[MikeInOr]

Nicely made machine... very cool.

To figure out the proper amount of heat to apply to properly aneal your brass I reccomend you shut off the lights. To properly aneal the brass it should just bearly start to glow with the lights off. If it starts glowing brightly you have heated it too much. You really can't calculate a particular time because the amount of heat (BTU's) a particular flame will put out changes due to many variables.

 

[Rmeju]

Plans are now found in the first post for those who want them!

 

[TexasDon]

Cool...!!!
Nothing like the feeling of building something like that yourself, especially when it works

I like building things like that, plus I know of a few others here that do too..

Good Job

TxD

 

[celem]

Rube Goldberg would be proud. Nice job!

 

[jmorris]

Looks like it should do the job.

To your question about how long to "cook" them, your torch does look too far away you don't want the case in the blue cone of the flame but closer than it looks in your video.

Run your cases through and slow the machine until the flame around the case changes to an orange color then speed it up just a bit so it doesn't. If that doesn't seem scientific enough for you you can buy some 750deg tempilaq and confirm that it is a good indicator.

 

[stoky]

nice!

 

[Saintsfan1977]

Nicely made machine... very cool.

To figure out the proper amount of heat to apply to properly aneal your brass I reccomend you shut off the lights. To properly aneal the brass it should just bearly start to glow with the lights off. If it starts glowing brightly you have heated it too much. You really can't calculate a particular time because the amount of heat (BTU's) a particular flame will put out changes due to many variables.

If you use Tempilaq you can. If the BTUs change then using a flame on any annealer is a waste of time. If the 750 degree Tempilaq melts at 6.2 seconds according to your stopwatch then you set your wheels at 6.1 or 6.2 seconds and all your cases should be annealed the same. By looking at a glow you would be inconsistent imo due to eyes getting tired. Timing it would be the best method.

 

[Rmeju]

Here is my first "real" test piece that I tried tonight (after scrapping out a few setup pieces). Looks like it didn't quite get far enough past the shoulder, but at least it looks like I didn't ruin it.



Sacrificial pieces for comparison.