Induction annealers:

Induction Annealers

Pete -

I don't know if you're looking for a turn-key system or one you build yourself, but I'm quite satisfied with my annealer. I bought a Mini-Ductor and a dark room timer that is adjustable in 0.1s increments. Using Tempilaq, I'm getting 750F on the neck and 525F only goes .25 in down the case on a PPC using 3.4s on the timer. I anneal every 3 shots on the brass (and clean the brass in an ultrasonic cleaner at the same time) and I really like the feel of the necks when seating the bullets. This setup is about the same cost as a Ken Light machine, but I find it is easier for me to adjust. If you want any more details, let me know.

- Jeff
 
Mini-Ductor is tops

cpboomer said:
Pete -

I don't know if you're looking for a turn-key system or one you build yourself, but I'm quite satisfied with my annealer. I bought a Mini-Ductor and a dark room timer that is adjustable in 0.1s increments. Using Tempilaq, I'm getting 750F on the neck and 525F only goes .25 in down the case on a PPC using 3.4s on the timer. I anneal every 3 shots on the brass (and clean the brass in an ultrasonic cleaner at the same time) and I really like the feel of the necks when seating the bullets. This setup is about the same cost as a Ken Light machine, but I find it is easier for me to adjust. If you want any more details, let me know.

- Jeff
Click to expand...

Fast, accurate, no fire or smoke, no water and clean. Its the best of the best. Also can free frozen bolts, screws etc.
 
cpboomer said:
Pete -

I don't know if you're looking for a turn-key system or one you build yourself, but I'm quite satisfied with my annealer. I bought a Mini-Ductor and a dark room timer that is adjustable in 0.1s increments. Using Tempilaq, I'm getting 750F on the neck and 525F only goes .25 in down the case on a PPC using 3.4s on the timer. I anneal every 3 shots on the brass (and clean the brass in an ultrasonic cleaner at the same time) and I really like the feel of the necks when seating the bullets. This setup is about the same cost as a Ken Light machine, but I find it is easier for me to adjust. If you want any more details, let me know.

- Jeff
Click to expand...

Which darkroom timer do you use? This sure looks like the easiest and cleanest way to anneal cases. Do you quench your cases after heating them?
 
quandary said:
Which darkroom timer do you use? This sure looks like the easiest and cleanest way to anneal cases. Do you quench your cases after heating them?
Click to expand...

I bought a GraLab 450 on Ebay. You should be able to find one in good shape for about $60 delivered.

Induction annealers are easy to set up and the process seems to be very repeatable for me. There are many folks who swear by their flame annealers too, so each must decide what makes the most sense to them. I can tell you that to go from PPC to 30-06 takes me 30 seconds. I'm not sure that flame annealers can make that big of a change that fast.

I don't quench my brass. From my reading of the literature, there is no advantage of quenching brass - the grain size and orientation is the same regardless of whether you air cool or quench. I anneal and drop my case into an ultrasonic cleaning basket. Once I get 15-20 cases annealed, I drop the basket into the cleaner and let it go to work. When it's done, I rinse the cases, blow them out with an air compressor and dry them with a hair dryer. The brass is then ready to load.
 
my ken light works good for me, setup from diff case size takes a few minutes, but ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,my case's have plenty of time,,,,,,,,,,,,,

the wind is my friend,,,,,,,,

DD
 
cpboomer said:
I bought a GraLab 450 on Ebay. You should be able to find one in good shape for about $60 delivered.
Click to expand...


I'll look around for one. Most of the timers I saw aren't rated at high enough wattage. What temperature do you go to, 650 deg F is the number i see most often?
 
quandary said:
I'll look around for one. Most of the timers I saw aren't rated at high enough wattage. What temperature do you go to, 650 deg F is the number i see most often?
Click to expand...

The 450 is rated at 1200W. The Mini-ductor draws a max of 10A at 120V. P = VI cos (Theta). I don't know what the phase angle is for the mini-ductor (but it has to be wicked inductive), but the power drawn must be less than 1200W. For the few seconds of annealing, I've never had a problem with an overload of the 450.

Annealing is a combination of temperature and time. 650F works well to anneal, if you keep it at that temp for an hour or so. You can imagine what that would do to your web. The literature I've read says that the same effect can be achieved at 750-800F for a "few seconds". I use 750F Tempilaq on the inside and outside of the mouth. I find the timer setting that will just melt the Tempilaq and then I check to see how far down the case the brass has been affected. Not much happens to brass below 525F, so I retest the brass to see how far that temp descends towards the web. For my .262 neck PPC, 3.4s anneals the neck properly and 525F only goes a quarter inch below the shoulder. If you have thicker or necks or if you wind your coil differently than mine, your timing will vary.

Most benchrest folks don't anneal their cases, yet, the best shooters will prep new cases for the biggest matches. Why? They want to have consistent neck tension for their 250-300 record shots over the course of the week. Many shooters have tried annealing, but found it did nothing to help their aggs and unless you do it correctly, the necks aren't restored to condition and you ARE wasting your time. But... if you do it correctly, you can shoot your brass until the primer pocket opens up so big even Wolf primers won't hold.

I will be shooting at the Nationals next week with 100 prepped cases: some of them shot 50 times, others perhaps 4 times. I don't make any distinction between the cases once they've been annealed. I probably won't do very well at the shoot, but it won't be the fault of the brass. For me, I find that the accuracy and repeatability of induction annealing works.
 
Thanks for bringing the subject up, I've had a quick look around, and it seems that induction heaters are well within the capabilities of someone with a soldering iron and some understanding of electronics.

There is a good introduction here with some excellent links
wikipedia article on Induction heating

One of the links is an illustrated tutorial on designing and building a heater: design and build tutorial With some links of it's own.

Another wikipedia article with references to published books on the subject (town library anyone?) Wiki article 2

Seems like Wikipedia, the worlds least reliable source of information is getting a bit better!

Here's someone selling build it yourself plans and kits Build your own - Ususal disclaimer - I have zero connections with the ner... sorry, guy.

Now, don't anyone go asking me any questions - I don't know enough to answer them!
 
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For the price this guy is charging for a kit, it looks to me that a Mini-Ductor would be not that much more and a proven product. No adventure left in me anymore I guess.
 
The unit I borrowed from a co-worker is probably over kill. It is identical as the one in the link above on you-tube. This thing will turn a 1" steel nut into glowing pudding in less than 30 seconds. In my set up and coiling of the wire I found if a 30-06 case was heated for 7 seconds with the coil tight, not touching, the neck inverted and headed south to the inside of the case. So I opened up the coil by winding it around a 9/16" socket. I have anealed almost everything I own now. I use 30-06 or 270 brass to form 338-06 cases. Anealing them prior to a one step neck up is just down right awesome. There is no set up time now, other than plugging it in and counting 5 .. for 30BR cases and 4 for a 6ppc. this will vary on the size of the coil. Once you get the hang of it and see the color changes, 50 cases can be done in less than 20minutes that includes set up, filling a bullet bucket of water, anealing, and packing up. It works and suspect wuld be less money to purchase than a tourch machine. Way less setup time and safer than 2 tourches running in the spare bed room.
Andy B
 
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