DIY brass annealing setup?

[Ex3dy]

Finally got the water pump this evening. I am also having some brainstorming now with the stupid water system.
The ZVS original copper tube OD is 5mm.... I don't want to solder another 1/4" tube over a 5mm to build up a wall thickness for a silicon tube because a stupid water radiator barb is 8mm. My plumbing soldering skills are pure basics only.
I will go tomorrow to a plumbing store or HD if I can find - a plastic - inline barb fitting, not really inclined to have another metal piece between wires.

For now I will finish this my brass annealing ZVS project with a count down timer what I currently have, of course same all components mounted on a piece of plywood sheet.
When time comes to move all to a enclosure, I have in my plans to control the annealing not by timer but buy IR/laser Temp controller.
Set the Temp for let say 400 C or 450 C or 500 C where the controller will cut ... and that can give a best samples to compare the material.

Brass IR emissivity sits in a wide range, shiny things are generally pretty hard to measure with IR, calibrating the measuring device could be tricky. Some IR guns come with K type thermocouple for setup and verification.
Handheld IR guns also have height over bore aiming issues since the visible and IR light sources are not coaxial.

https://www.thermoworks.com/emissiv...18-ku1usXZtQFiIGxPI2Ppc2ISF2LtY-ZSHkoq4wiGSw-
https://blog.thermoworks.com/infrared-thermometry/

 

[bigHUN]

Brass IR emissivity sits in a wide range, shiny things are generally pretty hard to measure with IR....

I was thinking about something like this IR/laser Temp controller:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...MjznmkET&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:

From above and under angle aiming into the inside wall the brass neck ??? Usually the inside wall is not shiny as the outside.
Pre-set the Temp for let say 450C and let the controller cut the coil relay.

 

[Ex3dy]

I was thinking about something like this IR/laser Temp controller:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007479890432.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.2.30cdgdFEgdFEP4&algo_pvid=77d0478d-10bc-4da4-8241-09f34f5ec7da&algo_exp_id=77d0478d-10bc-4da4-8241-09f34f5ec7da-1&pdp_ext_f={"order":"5","eval":"1"}&pdp_npi=4@dis!CAD!148.99!148.99!!!106.33!106.33!@2103146c17482769255141268efe43!12000040922984708!sea!CA!0!ABX&curPageLogUid=Nod3MjznmkET&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:

From above and under angle aiming into the inside wall the brass neck ??? Usually the inside wall is not shiny as the outside.
Pre-set the Temp for let say 450C and let the controller cut the coil relay.

depends what case you want to measure, minimum beam diameter is 11mm and minimum beam diameter at useful distance is 13mm, plus "oval" effect of angling sensor. I don't see any data on sensor reaction time but I would guess slow + coil delay so you may need to trigger early to prevent overshoot. The brass will change color and therefore also emissivity as it anneals.

 

[bigHUN]

depends what case you want to measure...

Thanks, this was very educational.
I have a handheld laser-IR meter but to do the exercise I need a third hand ... have not tried at this stage yet.
Theoretically - controlling the annealing "length" with a Temp sensor - shall be - more precise=consistent vs a count down timer.
But again I can understand the Temp sensor delay time... maybe the sensor shall be ON all time (same as the timer) ???
I don't know, it is way too far out at the moment but definitely worth to tinker about.

 

[cosmic]

bigHUN - I understand you havent annealed any cases yet in your reloading career. Suggest you try a few by hand with a propane torch, you'll learn a lot. For one, there is no need to hold the brass at annealing temp for a length of time. Second, it is desirable to heat the brass neck relatively quickly (a few seconds) to avoid heat migration beyond the shoulder (brass has a very high thermal conductivity). Using a timer is an easy and reliable way to avoid "overshoot" as described above. Third, the coloration on the case gives an excellent indication of consistency, no need for further analysis.

 

[GrizzlyJester]

Thanks, this was very educational.
I have a handheld laser-IR meter but to do the exercise I need a third hand ... have not tried at this stage yet.
Theoretically - controlling the annealing "length" with a Temp sensor - shall be - more precise=consistent vs a count down timer.
But again I can understand the Temp sensor delay time... maybe the sensor shall be ON all time (same as the timer) ???
I don't know, it is way too far out at the moment but definitely worth to tinker about.

Timers are sufficient, you can see how consistent the anneal height is in my picture of my 308 Lapua brass. The coil doesn't have much residual heat in it if it's being liquid cooled, so it's not going to be dumping a bunch of heat into the 200th case and throwing off the time to anneal. After a 200 case session my coil is barely above room temperature. Using temperature sensors certainly isn't necessary and will come with a fair few headaches to setup. That being said there are people that use temperature triggers, freedomjockey on Reddit does here is his setup.

 

[bigHUN]

Yeah, cosmic and grizzly, both you are right what you saying...
I am just an another square head with bad habits from earlier life in precision engineering ... the entire life I spent with numbers and calculations. I will not torch, I am already deep inside building this my annealing machine, it works and the finesses I will be adding on the go.

 

[Ex3dy]

Timers are sufficient, you can see how consistent the anneal height is in my picture of my 308 Lapua brass. The coil doesn't have much residual heat in it if it's being liquid cooled, so it's not going to be dumping a bunch of heat into the 200th case and throwing off the time to anneal. After a 200 case session my coil is barely above room temperature. Using temperature sensors certainly isn't necessary and will come with a fair few headaches to setup. That being said there are people that use temperature triggers, freedomjockey on Reddit does here is his setup.

I took a little peak at this project and it looks to me like the optical sensors are proxy detectors to trigger heating when a case is present, do you have more info on the temperature sensor part? The below quote gives me the impression his setup is time based.

Turns out, 3.0 second for the Hornady brass and 3.8 seconds for the Norma/Prime brass. For reference, it was ~1.8 seconds for the LC 5.56 brass.

https://www.reddit.com/r/reloading/comments/1adeblj/people_wanted_it_faster

 

[GrizzlyJester]

I took a little peak at this project and it looks to me like the optical sensors are proxy detectors to trigger heating when a case is present, do you have more info on the temperature sensor part? The below quote gives me the impression his setup is time based.

https://www.reddit.com/r/reloading/comments/1adeblj/people_wanted_it_faster

You're right. There are definitely people using temperature triggers on Reddit and the hide, this just wasn't the one I was thinking of (although it's another very cool build). I'll poke around and try to find it again, I'll post links when I do find it.