Out of curiosity I've wondered, what's the temp in the middle of a case that makes it too hot to hold?
That’s a good question, and I’m sure “too hot to hold” is a different temp for everyone.
No idea the temp. But I've exceeded it too often. Everytime I've annealed, I've ended up with sore fingers. I'd bet good money the temp decreases as the fingers get more sore.
Dillonbuck, I'm sure this has been said before but there is no need for sore fingers when annealing. You only need to hold a case in the middle until it gets too hot one time. Use a watch with a second hand or the timer/stopwatch on your phone to time how long it takes for the case to get too hot to hold. Then for the rest of the batch, hold the case at the base or use the drill and socket method that mod7rem mentioned earlier. Keep the case in the flame for the time you determined on the first case. No more sore fingers.
If you were just joking around with your post it went over my head so forgive me. I took your post at face value.
Thanks Al. What I’ve been doing for years is a modified candle method. I use a benzomatic torch with a low flame and a metronome app. I turn the neck/shoulder in the flame until it’s too hot to hold in the middle of the case and use the metronome to get the timing. Then I use a drill at slow speed with a socket. It’s very fast and easy to set up. I can get a lot done in a short time but I’ve always wondered if I’m getting them hot enough.
Your method is exactly how I first started doing cases. The only change I'd suggest is using a bit of Tempilaq on a few cases just to get the time down. Once you know that, just use that time on the rest of your brass....no need to Tempilaq every case.
Suddenly a light goes on, if I "anneal", I won't have to make 350RM cases, because they are hard to find now. I like Mule Deer's candle method. So I ordered an alcohol torch (candle) off Amazon.It won't soot. Another suggestion I picked up here. I'll pick up some alcohol at a marine supply. They use alcohol stoves in boats. I'm ashamed to say how often I have used my 303 brass in my P-14.
I have used temp stixs at work, but I couldn't find my stash. If you can't find them, you don't have them.LOL. I understand the difference between annealing and stress relieving . Which one am I hoping to achieve ? And at what temperature ?
I do have torches, from a Tiger Torch and rosebuds to a micro butane. But they are too hot or too cool, nothing just right.
I'll just throw this out there for food for thought... Why would you not want to replicate the process that was originally used when the brass was initially manufactured? I've searched for the results of the initial test that were run by the people who developed the AMP annealing machine but their web site is deeply layered now, I couldn't find what I was searching for. Basically they ran test utilizing a Vickers hardness testing machine and a SEM to inspect virgin brass and brass that was annealed using the AMP machine for comparison. Another test they ran with interesting results that could be duplicated... Annealed Brass vs Unannealed Brass Group Size
Suddenly a light goes on, if I "anneal", I won't have to make 350RM cases, because they are hard to find now. I like Mule Deer's candle method. So I ordered an alcohol torch (candle) off Amazon.It won't soot. Another suggestion I picked up here. I'll pick up some alcohol at a marine supply. T
As I have mentioned just about every time this subject comes up, the "candle method" is NOT mine. It was worked up by Fred Barker, a rifle loony who published an article about it in the late lamented Precision Shooter magazine years ago. Fred gave me a copy, and I tested HIS method, reporting on the results in various magazines.
Have also published various updates about it since then, along with other "annealing" methods, including using Tempilaq to time the candle/torch. (Oh, and the AMP.) The condensed versions of all these, along with the basic physics of brass annealing (or if you prefer, stress-relieving) appeared in 2018 as Chapter 15 in The Big Book of Gun Gack II.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
I own and use an AMP and admit it is an expensive luxury. But I would never be without it now. I anneal every firing now and the amp is so easy to use it’s a no brainer as part of standard brass prep.
Well thanks a frigging lot sport...that is going to cost me over two grand.
Never underestimate the ability to take a basic process and morph it into an espensive gizmo.
That's right doggonit!! Thank goodness for the AMP, Giraud Trimmers, Dillon Presses, Dillon primer-tube fillers, and probably a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting that at least in my mind, saves me time and headache.
I can walk on water.......................but I do stagger a bit on alcohol.
One meal of KD isn't so bad, but a week of them can get a bit tiring.
I got my alcohol candle, ordered Tempilac from my local welding store and I'll pick up some denatured alcohol from a marine supply. Still that will cost $150 CDN, but at least I don't have to cook my dinner, I hope.
-Al
