The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Annealed Brass

Josh Smith · October 2, 2012, 08:03 PM

Hi All,

With all the conflicting information out there about annealing, I decided to experiment a bit.

I'd heard I needed a pan of water; that no, a air cooling was fine; to make the neck glow and to keep the neck from glowing and the flame from changing color, as either indicated a cooking-off of zinc from the copper (zinc melts at about 790°).

Structural changes begin in brass at 650°, so I used a TempilStik crayon that turns to liquid at that temperature.

I marked the case in three places: 1/4" below the shoulder, halfway down the case body, and at the head.

The TempilStik melted below the shoulder at 8 seconds. An additional 2 seconds did not melt the crayon halfway down the body, so it looks like for this particular setup, which is a 9/16" deep wall socket stuck in an electric screwdriver, 10 seconds per case, air cooled, gives adequate annealing without burning out the zinc.

Josh

October 2, 2012, 08:03 PM	#1
Josh Smith member Join Date: November 5, 2000 Location: Wabash IN Posts: 740	Annealed Brass - TempilStik Hi All, With all the conflicting information out there about annealing, I decided to experiment a bit. I'd heard I needed a pan of water; that no, a air cooling was fine; to make the neck glow and to keep the neck from glowing and the flame from changing color, as either indicated a cooking-off of zinc from the copper (zinc melts at about 790°). Structural changes begin in brass at 650°, so I used a TempilStik crayon that turns to liquid at that temperature. I marked the case in three places: 1/4" below the shoulder, halfway down the case body, and at the head. The TempilStik melted below the shoulder at 8 seconds. An additional 2 seconds did not melt the crayon halfway down the body, so it looks like for this particular setup, which is a 9/16" deep wall socket stuck in an electric screwdriver, 10 seconds per case, air cooled, gives adequate annealing without burning out the zinc. Josh