My Cheap Annealing Machine

[JDinFbg]

I'm getting back into handloading after a 40+ year hiatus, and had some 30-06 brass I needed to anneal. Back when, I just used the heat red and tip over in water method, but all the posts I've read say water quenching does nothing for brass, and one really need to rotate the brass while heating to get uniform heat distribution around the case neck. There was no way I could justify the bucks for one of the fancy annealing machines, and spinning a case in a drill seemed like it would be somewhat awkward. So, I came up with the idea of finding an old record turntable, and found one at a local resale shop for $5. I stripped off all the extraneous stuff and direct wired the motor to the power cord. I bought a round cake pan at Walmart for $1, and cut a 2" square block from a scrap of red oak I had, drilled a 1/2" hole in the center, and made some shallow cross cuts on the bottom side with my table saw. I centered the pan on the turntable and the wooden block in the pan, and filled the pan with about 1/2" or so of water just to assure heat did not affect the head and body of the cases. I experimented with some junk brass in a dimly lit room so I could see the brass as it started to glow a dull maroon color and determined that heating the cases for 5 revolutions of the turntable provided the right amount of heating - that's about 6.6 seconds on the 45rpm speed. After heating, I let the brass sit a few seconds in the water bath then used a pair of needle nose pliers to transfer the cases to my reloading blocks. It's not fancy, but it works just fine. The attached pictures show the machine and the bottom of the wooden block I made for holding the cases upright. The cross cuts in the bottom of the block allow water to easily flow in around the head of the case.

 

[Walkalong]

Very cool, and although we are showing our age, I also have an old turntable in the closet. (Packrat, can't stand to throw good stuff away. Besides, i could still get out those old albums and play them if I wanted to. ))

 

[Demi-human]

Very Nice! I like your ingenuity. My father still has a Marantz, and he still plays his vinyl too loud! The music is still good, just too loud. I must be getting old, too!

 

[Slamfire]

Very clever!

 

[sparkyv]

Genius!

 

[santacruzdave]

Where there is a will there's a way. Nice out of the box thinking!

 

[Skgreen]

Excellent!
(Also pondering how one could take it to the next level,,,)

 

[JDinFbg]

Excellent!
(Also pondering how one could take it to the next level,,,)

I suppose the next level would be making a jig to hold the torch in a fixed position and some kind of hinged baffle to apply then block the flame for case changing. One improvement I plan to do the next time is to use some plumber's putty to secure the wooden block to the pan so the case remains in the center of rotation. The block kept moving on me as I removed cases, and I'd have to periodically stop the turntable and re-center the block.

 

[Skgreen]

Block centering/securing may (also) be as simple as some silicone,,,

 

[JDinFbg]

Block centering/securing may (also) be as simple as some silicone,,,

I need an "adhesive" that is non-permanent since I have blocks for different size cases and need to be able to change them out depending on which size case I'm annealing.

 

[Dudedog]

I like it clever.

Attach the block,
Drill two holes in the block for support pins.
Attach pins to the pan. (bolt, metal rod etc.) Silicone whatever to the pan
Slide block down pins.
Holes in the same place on different blocks, good to go.

Another thought, magnet on pan, magnet on block.
Dead hard drives have nice little strong magnets in them.

 

[GaryL]

Nice. Like to see cheap and simple solutions. And some good ideas to turn it into an elegant solution.

 

[rskent]

Excellent!
(Also pondering how one could take it to the next level,,,)

Might have to throw in a few extra bucks

 

[Jesse Heywood]

Keep it simple. 2x4s to mount the torch. Find an old right angle drive hand crank, like off an ice cream machine.

 

[H&R Glock]

RSKENT- Amazing machine! how does it work? Does it work?

 

[Kaldor]

RSKENT- Amazing machine! how does it work? Does it work?

Alot like this: How to make ~$100 annealer & how to use it!: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyPEnjRX7eZOiaD-bo5E7G4V9UEke5id

 

[rskent]

It’s a shameless copy of an annealeez (YouTube). Cheap controls off flee bay mounted in a box made from scrap wood. The propane torch I had. (If I have to fix any pipes I will have to steal it back.) I think the most expensive part was a bottle of Tempalac.


Kaldor, I may have used that video. I don’t have $100 in mine.


Does it work? Yes, it does. And it has convinced me that annealing my match rifle brass is helpful and worth my time. Looking at the results on paper, I don’t see the results like I can with mixed brass VS prepped brass. But I am seeing a lot fewer cracked necks. It goes pretty quick, so why not?

 

[H&R Glock]

absolutely COOL! It was worth all the You-Tube ADs to see how it works. Thank you!

 

[Rule3]

I need an "adhesive" that is non-permanent since I have blocks for different size cases and need to be able to change them out depending on which size case I'm annealing.

Perhaps just some more $1 cake pans. caliber specific, the the block could be "permanent"