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Case Annealer

My annealeez arrived last week, it's the balls. I hope you get yours working well, it would be awesome to get a final product that works as well for much less.
 
Just got done with the two drive wheels, the glue is setting.

Essentially what I did is took a piece of 1X3 pine I had and sanded both sides smooth. I used a 2" hole saw and drilled (4) holes, only about 1/4" deep to start (without going all the way through so the cutouts were still there. I then drilled a 3/8" hole within the ends of each of them and proceeded with the hole saw to drill them out. I then roughly aligned and stacked 2 together with glue which is now setting. Tomorrow I will drill out the center hole to 5/16" and insert a set screw to lock it onto the motor shaft.

one wheel is going to be buttery smooth (top) and the bottom one will have a rubber coating on it of some form.

As far as costs go, I figure I'm right around the $80 mark now.
 
Good for you, i have a couple projects that ive been slowing trying to get around too. Sometimes you dont get to things as quickly as you would like.
 
Starting in on this project as well. I'll be adding a proximity switch to the brass roller/dropper instead of a speed controller for the motor. It will eliminate the worry about things getting out of sync, and reduce cost slightly.
 
Smokewagon said:
Starting in on this project as well. I'll be adding a proximity switch to the brass roller/dropper instead of a speed controller for the motor. It will eliminate the worry about things getting out of sync, and reduce cost slightly.
Click to expand...

So, One thing with using drive wheels of the same diameter is that one speed controller could be used with the motors run in parallel, though having two speed controllers are good if one motor isn't as fast as the other.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/131742993989?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

or

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5V-1-2-4-6-...dfdf93&pid=100338&rk=3&rkt=30&sd=131742993989

and a couple of micro switches will time everything perfectly

Relay coil and feed motor connected to the NO contact
Power connected to first micro-switch NC contact and then from switch common to relay common.
Second micro-switch NO contact connected to power and common to relay NO contact.

first micro-switch mounted to case feed and activates just after a case drops.
second micro-switch mounted to annealing drum and activates just after a new case drops into the annealing drum

This works by having the relay power itself through the first switch so it latches on until the first switch activates killing the power.
The second switch provides power to the relay just long enough for the first switch to deactivate and latch the relay on.

Optical switches can be used if you use the larger relay board to give you NC/NO contacts and higher current.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/301876970939?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true
 
So I got it all built last night however the sorting and spinning drum are out of sync. Even though both are set to the same speed, the output voltage for the top is almost 1 volt less at 6 volts where as the lower (spinning) drum's voltage is at 7.2v. I might actually wire them together in parallel to see if they sync up. If that doesn't work I will be adding a belt or gear between the two to use one motor spinning at the same speed powering two wheels.
 
Keeping sync is next to impossible without a physical link (belt or gears) or an electronic method to set timing

Sent from my C6530 using Tapatalk
 
RImike said:
So I got it all built last night however the sorting and spinning drum are out of sync. Even though both are set to the same speed, the output voltage for the top is almost 1 volt less at 6 volts where as the lower (spinning) drum's voltage is at 7.2v. I might actually wire them together in parallel to see if they sync up. If that doesn't work I will be adding a belt or gear between the two to use one motor spinning at the same speed powering two wheels.
Click to expand...

pastera said:
Keeping sync is next to impossible without a physical link (belt or gears) or an electronic method to set timing

Sent from my C6530 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Use a proximity switch and you will never have to worry about sync issues. It also saves you from needing a second controller. Forgot where I got mine, but they were half the price of this one, but same thing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Q811RU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
I'm going to be using 1 speed controller with 1 motor and connect the two rotating drums with gears like these, I just wish I could find them cheaper: What I need to find will be (2) 2.5" gears like these: http://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/78080298

With the speed at 50% (6 volts), the rotating speed is at 5 seconds, or 12 rpm's. At 100% (12 volts), the rotating speed is close to 2.5 seconds or 25 rpm's. If I went 75% reductions, I would need a 45 toothed gear which when set to 100% (12 volts) would spin the drums at roughly 18 rpm's (brass would be in the flame for 3.3 seconds) on the fastest setting however at 75% power, it would be closer to 5% which still sends about 10 volts to the motor, which they still will have enough torque.

I just need to track down affordable gears.
 
RImike said:
Just curious, people what is the time that .223 cases are in the flame for?
Click to expand...

Mine are around 6 seconds. It depends on how consistent you are in setting the flame though. I have the annealeez and it works very well. Tempilaq works well for adjusting the heat. You can't rely on flame color change as some online sources say, My 38-40 brass is very thin walled and I see absolutely no flame change although the tempilaq melts on the inside of the neck.
 
noddaduma said:
Instead of gears use a belt drive setup with o-rings as the belts.
Click to expand...

a belt would result in the same direction, a gear results in opposite direction of the the two drums.

Also the Annealezz uses a gear:
post-10433-0-77564500-1444499110.jpeg
 
6 sec seems about right...i like to set mine on max speed and then adjust the flame. Annealing is the slowest process in my reloading process.

The tempaq is a usefull tool when your new to it..but after that its not really very useful.
I like to aim the flame in the appropriate location and run the machine with the lights off and set it so it drops the brass right as the area to be annel just begins to glow... if the flame begins to change color you might be overdoing alittle but it wont hurt it. If its glowing bright with the lights on your way overdoing it.

Ive always had my annealer and dont see how you can realy reload without it unless you reall keep good records and keep everything sorted.

With once fired or range pickup annealing really increase the consistency. You can feel it in the press while processing.
 
Could you please inform what the fastest/slowest rpms are? If you simply inform time that the brass would be in the flame I could calculate RPM'S off that.

Thanks.
 
I dont understand the question..on my unit its adjustable between aprox 3 and 10 sec .
Theres the feed wheel and a bar the case rolls on while annealing there are 4 slots in the wheel so Simple math tells us 4×3=12 sec 4x10 =40sec 60/40=1.5 60/12=5

so the feed wheel is adjustable between 1.5 and 5 rpm.


I hope this answers your question...i think you asked it clear but i am having a brain fart.
20161210_214211.jpg
 
RImike said:
Could you please inform what the fastest/slowest rpms are? If you simply inform time that the brass would be in the flame I could calculate RPM'S off that.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It's really dependent on your set up, your flame source, ambient temp, brass etc. Templaq is really useful in getting started. I found it for a decent price at MSC ($20 or so). I was also ordering some other stuff from them and had a coupon that reduced the price of my order by a decent amount as well (25%).
 
Smokewagon said:
It's really dependent on your set up, your flame source, ambient temp, brass etc. Templaq is really useful in getting started. I found it for a decent price at MSC ($20 or so). I was also ordering some other stuff from them and had a coupon that reduced the price of my order by a decent amount as well (25%).
Click to expand...

Since I'm using two rotating wheels, one to sort and one spinning in the opposite direction to rotate the brass in flame, I just need to figure out how long it would be in the for and work backwards to find the proper gear ratio. At 10 seconds it would be spinning at 10 RPMS and at 3 seconds it would spinning at 20 RPMS.
 
A former Sniper that runs Central Virginia Tactical uses a power drill with a wooden dowel that he places the cases on, spins it while over the blue flame, then into water while still spinning. He swears by it.
 
No doubt in my mind that it does not do the job as I've done similar. Time is money and money is time. lol Looking to simplify and make it much much more efficient and safer. Hell I know a few gents that send thier brass out in bulk and have it annealed because it saves them the time and aggravation.

TC204 said:
A former Sniper that runs Central Virginia Tactical uses a power drill with a wooden dowel that he places the cases on, spins it while over the blue flame, then into water while still spinning. He swears by it.
Click to expand...
 
One rig I used to use used a record player. I marked the center of a cut-down coffee can and put in on the turn table. With about 1" of water in the can I would dim the lights and hold the flame on the rotating neck until I could just see a glow then knock it over into the water. Not perfectly consistent but I think I got pretty good and keeping the annealing uniform (enough).
 
This guy takes his time loading each round as it is, so a little more time means nothing to him. When anyone sees how well he shoots at 1,000+ yards, no one questions his process [wink]


Ranger007 said:
No doubt in my mind that it does not do the job as I've done similar. Time is money and money is time. lol Looking to simplify and make it much much more efficient and safer. Hell I know a few gents that send thier brass out in bulk and have it annealed because it saves them the time and aggravation.
Click to expand...
 
Hmmmmmm I would question the crap out of him. How do you work up your brass? How are you trimming it? What kind of wood is the dowl made of that you use when annealing? Do you know what rpm's you spin it at? Etc etc
TC204 said:
This guy takes his time loading each round as it is, so a little more time means nothing to him. When anyone sees how well he shoots at 1,000+ yards, no one questions his process [wink]
Click to expand...
 
Ranger007 said:
While we are on the subject of annealng anyone running a Annealing Made Perfect (AMG) yet?

http://www.ampannealing.com/
Click to expand...

Interesting product. A bit low tech, it provides a controlled temperature and time based on manually compiled data. I could see them upgrading it so that the time/temp settings are selected by looking up the info on the device itself. One possible shortfall would be changes in the brass composition between production runs by the manufacturer. They may continually update the online data but their current business model does not make that a profit generating activity.

So it's a niche product that is very simple in its construction, so paid repairs will be few if any. Once the majority of the demand is fulfilled they won't have sufficient ongoing revenue to continue operations. This isn't a problem until you consider changes in the brass composition and the lack of an updated table will result in decreased accuracy, making it no better than the flame and drum/roller based devices. But for the next 3 years or so it'll be great.

Hmmm thinking about it, a variable electric heat source and a rotation timer a drum/roller based unit would give you the same level of control for a lot lower cost. Now all you need is the data. These guys should be selling subscriptions for data updates.
 
42! said:
Interesting product. A bit low tech, it provides a controlled temperature and time based on manually compiled data. I could see them upgrading it so that the time/temp settings are selected by looking up the info on the device itself. One possible shortfall would be changes in the brass composition between production runs by the manufacturer. They may continually update the online data but their current business model does not make that a profit generating activity.

So it's a niche product that is very simple in its construction, so paid repairs will be few if any. Once the majority of the demand is fulfilled they won't have sufficient ongoing revenue to continue operations. This isn't a problem until you consider changes in the brass composition and the lack of an updated table will result in decreased accuracy, making it no better than the flame and drum/roller based devices. But for the next 3 years or so it'll be great.

Hmmm thinking about it, a variable electric heat source and a rotation timer a drum/roller based unit would give you the same level of control for a lot lower cost. Now all you need is the data. These guys should be selling subscriptions for data updates.
Click to expand...

I've done a lot of annealing with a torch-based heat source (Giraud). The heat source must be precisely positioned in order to to get the part of the case you want to soften hot enough without overheating the parts you want to keep strong.

You can experiment to get the temp right using temperature-sensitive paint (Tempilaq). The time is pretty constant, and the brass composition isn't variable enough to make much of a difference.

I think the trick with the electrical device might be getting enough heat in the right place, and not too much elsewhere.
 

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