Annealing Tools

Another vote for Ken Light

I have the Ken Light tool and the only "gripe" I have is that it is so good and fast that I do not get to use it as much as I would like.

Just LOVE to watch it work it's wonders.

;)
George
 
why spend all that?

Hornady annealer kit, been using it for 5 years now, all you need is a drill and a torch works great.

can run through cases very quick, about 7sec per case
 
I have the Ken Light & love it, too. However, I would say to consider how many different cartridges you want to anneal for. If you are going to do quite a variety, the Brass-o-matic might be better for you. That said, if you're as anal as most of us on this board, go with the Ken Light & buy all the different shell plates req'd. I think that Ken's machine is THE best one out there.
 
Thank you, Joe. I'm limited to the PPC family right now, but I'm thinking about my son offering this as a service eventually. So, I'd want to get additional plates that make sense.
 
Ken Light

One more vote for the Ken Light unit, I have one and it is very well made and works well. If I had to do it over, I'd buy another Ken Light.

Dick
 
Ditto

Joe Entrekin said:
I have the Ken Light & love it, too. However, I would say to consider how many different cartridges you want to anneal for. If you are going to do quite a variety, the Brass-o-matic might be better for you. That said, if you're as anal as most of us on this board, go with the Ken Light & buy all the different shell plates req'd. I think that Ken's machine is THE best one out there.
Click to expand...

I also vote for the Ken Light machine, even though I had to buy four different shell plates.:D "Badlands"
 
With the automated annealing machines, I have heard no mention of dropping the heated cases in water.

I have always been of the understanding that once the case necks are heated to the correct temp, they must be immediately dunked in water. Is this not true?

If the water dunk step can be eliminated, it sure would simplify and speed up the process.

Gene Beggs
 
Gene...

Gene Beggs said:
With the automated annealing machines, I have heard no mention of dropping the heated cases in water.

I have always been of the understanding that once the case necks are heated to the correct temp, they must be immediately dunked in water. Is this not true?

If the water dunk step can be eliminated, it sure would simplify and speed up the process.

Gene Beggs
Click to expand...

it's my understanding that quickly cooling cartridge brass after heating has no effect in the annealing process unlike many steels. Any metalurgists here?
 
Read the link posted above.

Dunking it serves no purpose. There is no quenching effect.

When doing it manually, the pan of water acts as heat sink to help with not getting the lower parts of the case up to annealing temperature.

The temperature control is one of the main reasons I want to use an automated tool versus doing it with something like the Hornady tool.

Greg J.
 
SGJennings said:
Read the link posted above.

Dunking it serves no purpose. There is no quenching effect.

When doing it manually, the pan of water acts as heat sink to help with not getting the lower parts of the case up to annealing temperature.

The temperature control is one of the main reasons I want to use an automated tool versus doing it with something like the Hornady tool.

Greg J.
Click to expand...


The Hornady set up is in fact and works as a heat shield to the lower part of the ctg case. You will notice the lower Tempalaqe used for the heating system? The heat continues to rise after the heat source is removed. If you don't use a water bath to stop the temperature rise, you have to remove the case and keep a closer guard on laying the case down. Bent necks are the reason you have to be on guard.:D
 
Gene, others

With the Ken Light system, the shell plate with water in the center cavity at, or near, boiling serves the dual purpose of preheating before annealing, and controlling the max temperature of the lower (case head) part of the brass, so no water quench is needed. If I remember correctly, this is all explained in detail in the Ken Light write-up about annealing. Click the link in the post above & see if that doesn't contain this information, or google Ken Light, go to his site and read what he has to say.
 
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Big Al: Notice that I said heat *sink* above. Not heat *shield*. I think the Hornady will work fine. It's just not what I'm looking for.
 
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Dunking brass in water after annealing

I dunk my brass out of necessity, because I use a case turner on a battery drill to turn the brass in a propane torch flame to the proper temperature, then I dunk it to cool it enough to insert another case. This process works good for me and is very cheap.
JonathanK
 

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I understand the method of controlling the temperature by doing it in a dark room so that you can see the onset of "glow". It just ain't for me.
 
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