DIY Homemade Brass Annealer - Annealing Station

[@inthemountainswithmeachum3256]

👍 only guy I've seen so far actually dropping your brass in water to lock the annealing in so it doesn't spread down the casing !

[@mikenixon5936]

Definitely one of the better homemade annealing systems I've seen.

[@br4713]

Good job, I do almost the same with mine to set the temperature. I have made some tests by trying to crush some old cases, in fact the brass is already annealed when neck mouth just starts to glow red into the dark. Many people feed these machine with some small propane bottles, but it is much better to use large tanks to avoid gas pressure and/or temperature changes during the process.

[@dcm6073]

Hello Matthew, This is simple and effective. You have just saved me over $450. Thank you for the details that will make this project a simple build. My 1st New Year project.

[@ryanhooper5083]

This is very interesting. I must learn more about this.

[@pikesticker]

I gotta say this is a build that even lightly skilled DIY'ers could put together. Kudos for the excellent coverage of all the details and Q&A follow-ups on additional clarifications. Turns out I have all the materials except the propane tank T. I see your rotisserie motor is 2RPM and the one I have is 3RPM which may be a bit too fast unless my torches can make up for the shorter flame exposure time. Or use a simple belt pulley to reduce the speed. Any old printer or scanner has great belts in them.

[@markmuller3144]

I very much like the design, easily adjustable between case length or size, with no additional parts to change. you don't need the water bath but does cool the cases quickly for handling. If you don't commercialize this, I bet someone else will, if not already. just make it all metal.

[@johnfrederikson2002]

Nice and thanks for sharing your parts list. J.

[@howardiko7156]

What a great idea. Cudos to you.

[@faronmastin8683]

Nice good job thanks for the video.

[@johnnybarbar7435]

FYI, There is no need to quench in water. Just let them fall into the dry pan and you're good to go when they have air cooled.

[@jeffjefferson2676]

Be sure to get some ventilation!! Verry important! Greetings, Jeff

[@stephengutsch2814]

Dude that is totally badass

[@CHIBA280CRV]

Fantastic job sir , where did you get the top plate cut out ?

[@FclassCommunityCHL]

I had a friend who ran a water jet cutter and had some extra scrap laying around.

[@CHIBA280CRV]

Fclass Community Channel - Need More Ammo Productions Is good to have friends with good tools ...

[@leoworrall9449]

Doesn’t quenching harden the material ?

[@billroberts9182]

With brass, quenching retains the softness (ductility). Opposite of iron/steel.

[@carterbez35]

That's just the rotisserie motor off a BBQ? Seems simple but effective, nice.

[@FclassCommunityCHL]

Carter Bez Yes it is just a Rotisserie motor you could purchase just a replacement motor itself. Key is to find the lowest RPM motor you can find. I've provide addition information about my annealing process.

[@yuriy9210]

Very nice video but are you sure that water for cooling is required? After instant cooling the metal becomes very hard and the result of annealing is zero. Sorry if I'm wrong.

[@FclassCommunityCHL]

Thank you for your question. I mentioned in the video that water quenching is not required. However the purpose for water quenching is more peace of mind as a function to stop the heat from traveling down to the case head. There are a lot of discussion on the internet. However from what I can gather from a lot of discussion and reports from metallurgist quenching does not work harden the brass because of the of the composition of brass. I'm NO expert in this field so my opinion an thoughts on it maybe moot.

[@1903a3rem]

Brass does not harden in water , the water is to keep the heat from creeping into the main part of the case and seeking it , this could be a problem ,especially dropping hot case after hot case on top of one another with no water or fan source to dissipate the heat .

[@stephengutsch2814]

So what would you charge for one of those?

[@FclassCommunityCHL]

I built one for personal use only, I don't sell or build for commercial use. However that being said I've include a list of materials in the video description. If you're a little handy you could build one yourself. The benefits and time savings is a great value.

[@yankeeroad626]

Do you feel its not need to rotate the cases when in the flame? Thanks Great design!

[@FclassCommunityCHL]

rotating the case would allow the flame to uniformly anneal the circumference of neck and shoulder. What I've found that this design does create a slight flame shadow, evident by the coloration change below the shoulder. However I found the necks to be adequately annealed.

[@matthewclark9238]

could you give the dimensions on the plate you made like how you spaced you holes and the size holes you had cut in them ?

[@FclassCommunityCHL]

+Matthew Clark The diameter of the plate is 9 inches. The center of all the holes were offset from the outside edge approximately 1 inch and space equally apart I drew it up on CAD. I had the holes cut slightly larger than the cartridge base diameter if I recall correctly I asked for 0.060" larger. WSM .615 (orig .555), 308win base .531 (orig .471), 223Rem base .436 (orig. .376). However my buddy who runs a water jet cut it slightly larger by accident. If I were to redesign it I would make it a tear drop shape with the radius of the tear drop big enough for the magnum case bases. That way all holes would fit all types of cartridges.

[@Mike-xi4zt]

There are many myths about annealing. Myth Number 1 is overheating the case neck ruins the brass. Myth Number 2 Quenching hot brass in water hardens it. Myth Number 3. Is that you resize the brass before annealing. Annealing always slightly deforms the brass because it is stress relieving the metal. You should always resize brass AFTER annealing. If you heat the neck to red hot, the brass is NOT ruined. Resize after annealing. I have been resizing AFTER annealing for over 40 years and do not recall ever collapsing a case resizing it from overheating the neck. Summary: 1. Resize after annealing to reform to proper dimensions after stress relieving the metal. Heating case neck to red hot does NOT ruin them if you resize after annealing. 2. Do not anneal the lower half of the case, neck and shoulder only. 3. Annealing highly increases the life of the case. I have 243 brass formed from 308 over 30 years ago that has been fired so much I have lost track of the number of firings. Regular annealing does increase the life of the case by a large amount.

[@RetrieverTrainingAlone]

That makes sense...for a longer case life, anneal before resizing, not work harden by resizing before annealing. Under annealing is likely more common than over-annealing? For example, Annealing Made Perfect of cases in an oven for 1-HOUR! and found that up to 660F there was little annealing occurring with minor decline in Vickers Hardness (HV 136 to HV131). They show that for a .223 case flash annealing to 1000F took 3.4 seconds.

[@eadccomponents8897]

Quenching is necessary. Metal work 101.

[@eadccomponents8897]

If you say so, I'd probably take my advice from machinists about the intricacy of metals but ok. Annealing is completely unnecessary in this application anyway.

[@eaznutts5714]

What rotisserie motor did you use? The ones I've seen all have a square female socket. Did yours have a threaded socket or did you some how rig it to fit?

[@FclassCommunityCHL]

Yes your correct. I adapted hex connecting nut to the square female socket, using JB weld then used a threaded rod as the center to hold the plate.

[@josephpurnell3852]

could you share the specs so i could make one

[@FclassCommunityCHL]

Joseph Purnell Hi Joseph yes I can share with you the specs. It's very simple actual the list of materials is listed in the video description. The platform sits on 2"x6"cut to about 13"-16"long. The length of the plywood sheets of plywood is dependent upon how wide of working area you like to work with mine is approximately 16-20" in length width is the same as the legs. I cut a hole at the center of the plywood with enough clearance for the coupling nut that you would epoxy or glue to the BBQ motor. This coupling nut is to allow a threaded rod to be place at the center axis of the machine. The coupling nut I purchase is 1" in length I put a second layer of plywood to support and space the shell plate. I just use dry wall screws to assemble the plywood and the 2x6s together attached from the bottom so to provide a smooth surface to the top.. Try to get the shell plate a low as you can to support the head of the brass so it doesn't tip the brass over when it turns. The BBQ motor that I had came with 3 screw with spacers attached to a plate. I use the plate as the template for the screw holes and counter sunk the screw location so that I could invert the BBQ motor and attach it to the bottom. I did not use the spacer or the additional face plate it came with. Again there really isn't much to it I built it as I went along and really measured and eyeballed a lot of what you see. If you need more information please feel free to use the email in my "about" section of my channel.

[@Thoseaboutto911]

too long in the flame

[@awd3418]

no