Ken light brass annealing machine

Re: Which annealing machine I am not completely positive of the functionality, but the hollowed out center of the wheel acts as a heat sink and heat source when you put boiling water in the middle, that heats the wheel and ultimately the brass to roughly deg F in the time it takes the brass to make its way to the burners. I could pull Kens materials and give it to you straight from the horse's mouth, but I think that is the gist.

Not sure if its even necessary, but I do it and have not had any problems as a result. Feb 25, 0 41 Lees Summit MO. Re: Which annealing machine I am also thinking about picking up one of these machines. How many cases can you anneal with one 20lb tank? Re: Which annealing machine Thanks for the info guys, I may be confusing myself more and more--seems like both are good kens light brass annealing machine Nov 6, 1, 2 56 Nebraska www.

Re: Which annealing machine Bench Source easy to run and setup. Bench Source has a good write up in their directions can be downloaded that is easy to understand. Re: Which annealing machine Not worth the time to say. But the brass was not to hot. I do know everyone has opinions. Thanks for yours. This is showing how the machine operates.

The critical time and temperature at which the grain structure reforms into something suitable for case necks is degrees F for some 15 minutes. A higher temperature, say from to degrees, will do the same job in a few seconds. If brass is allowed to reach temperatures higher than this regardless of the timeit will be made irretrievably and irrevocably too soft.

Brass will begin to glow a faint orange at about degrees F. Even if the heating is stopped at a couple of hundred degrees below this temperature, the damage has been done--it will be too soft. Over-annealing is certainly the worst condition, and can even be dangerous, as pointed out above. Over-annealing has two aspects: over-annealing of the "ken light brass annealing machine" neck only, and any annealing of the lower half of the case.

There is no particular danger to over-annealing the case necks, which is the usual result of standing the brass in water and heating the necks with a torch or any process where the neck glows orange. All that will happen is that your accuracy will not improve, or it may become worse, and the cases may seem to be a little more sticky during extraction.

Case life will be improved because the necks are soft--too soft. Any annealing whatsoever of the cartridge base is over-annealing and is dangerous. This area of the brass must retain the properties it had when it left the factory. If it is made the least bit softer, let alone "dead" soft, the stage is set for another shooter's nightmare. At the very least, you may get a whiff of hot gas directed toward your face.

At the worst, you can be seriously injured as your gun behaves more like a hand grenade than a firearm. Oct 21, 1, 2 Houston, TX. I like the aesthetics, apparent solidity of the Ken Light and Ballistic Edge machines, but prefer the 'stationary' rotating during heating of the case better on the Vertex Bench Source machine I can't seem to discern why there is a need for the preheating of the case as suggested in the Ken Light data, and fooling around with filling the center of the wheel with boiling water sounds like a PITA, and a good chance to burn yourself I suppose you could just run it without water in there, like other units such as the Ballistic Edge machine.

I don't like that the fit of the case into the plate is so sloppy on the Vertex machine, and a few video's I found on YouTube show the case spinning obtusely around against the edge of the plate I guess since it is running two torches you will get even enough results, just don't like the fit Still noodling! Gasitman Out of work pan handler Full Member.

Aug 7, 4 Washington. Re: Which annealing machine I have always just put my brass in a stock metal baking pan with about 1" of water, and used a torch. I put the pan on a lazy Susan, works great. What is the advantage over what I do? More consistent? Re: Which annealing machine Consistency is the name of the game, if you get acceptable results though, who's to say you aren't doing it well enough?

I can say that using the Hornady system with the Templaq, you can get a pretty wide variance in results, BUT, perhaps if you get the cases into a 'sweet spot' with whatever method, it doens't matter--that would be the goal IMO, but certainly the serious guys in annealing came up with and use these machines to maximize consitency. Drake Associates Sergeant Commercial Supporter.

Sep 15, 4 50 New York www. Re: Which annealing machine Gas annealing is an old method of annealing brass cartridges. Radical case forming reqirements are in my view a totally different ball game than neck annealing. The light machine in my oppinion simply is not as versatile or precise at addressing these needs. Roos » Wed Dec 06, am mdeland, If you don't have a Ken lite annealer or ever tried one, your talking out your butt with your last comments.

I have the machine. Kelley O. Post by Orville » Wed Dec 06, pm kelly Where does one find torchs for this machine? No one around here has heard of a JTH-7 all I can find is the pencil flame type and they heat in too small of a spot. I have the machine just need to get some good torches. Until then I'll continue to use what I have which is a holder that goes in my hand drill.

I put a case in it and rotate it in the flame when it gets to the right color I tip is out into a pan of water. When I said I take it to a dull red that is in a very dark room, no lights, if I don't bring the case to that color I don't seen much if any change when neck sizing. Post by OLReliable » Wed Dec 06, pm Orville wrote: OlReliable When I said I take it to a dull red that is in a very dark room, no lights, if I don't bring the case to that color I don't seen much if any change when neck sizing.

Post by mdeland » Wed Dec 06, pm I have watched the Light machine in use and think it is a real doozzy, very fast and practical. I personally prefer the lead bath method for case forming because it gives better control over temperature, time and depth. One can easily manipulate each or all until the best anneal is found for the purpose at hand.

If all that is needed is case neck annealing then the machine would make the most sense. Post by mdeland » Wed Dec 06, pm OkKelly give me exactly degrees for 15 seconds to a predetermined radial depth on your machine. Doesn't work very easily ,if at all, does it on the machine? Like I said I have seen the machine used and it is a very good invention but I don't have to personally own one to see its limitations.

I think this pretty good talk especially from my butt as you say! Case melted at 7 seconds Oh, least I forget, I have torches that have a flame deflector so torch flame is spread evenly around case and I dailed flame to desired heat range. Post by mdeland » Thu Dec 07, am I sure like arguing with you Kelly. I like having my notions challenged to see if they can stand on their own and if they can't then let them fall.

Also I never have to quess what you think about them. You're a worthy adversary! From what you say though it looks to me like you have not got any more experience with melted lead case annealing than I do by only watching a Ken Lite annealer in operation. The demonstration I watched did cover the details of it's use though and I was impressed.

CreateTech Enterprises is a machine shop located in Cottonwood Arizona.

Ken light brass annealing machine: The best machine I saw so

We specialize in precision machining, short run production, prototype and development, product improvement. Select the wheel that fits the cases you will be doing. For best results the cases should be clean and polished. Deprime the cases so they will rotate in the wheel properly and prevent wearing out the abrasive under the wheel. Set 2 cases in the wheel and lay a straight edge on the mouths and align the bottom of the straight edge with the top of the ken light brass annealing machine tips by loosening the torch holder set screws slightly and turning the hex nuts at the bottom of the torch holders.

Use the Bernzomatic torch UL They come in kit UL This kit also contains a canister of gas. With the spare cases in the wheel, light the torches, turn the machine on and let the cases run through the flames. Align the flames so that the cases make at least 1 revolution thru the flames of both torches. The torch holders have alignment flats milled on the sides which should be close.

If you have to move the flames, loosen the set screws and move the torch holder slightly to get the case to stay in the flames for 1 revolution. Turn off the torches and machine and remove the wheel to preheat it under a hot water stream. Don't operate without water in the wheel. Relight the torches, start the machine with the torches turned down and start loading cases in the wheel.

Adjust the flames so that when the cases fall into a dry pan, the necks are gold with a slight blue ring forming below the neck. Annealing is a process wherein heat is applied to a metal in order to change it's internal structure in such a way that the metal will become softer. Most of us think of "heat treating" when we think of applying heat to a metal in order to change it's internal structural properties.

The word "heat treating" is most commonly associated with steel. However, the term heat treating is not annealing, except in a general and journalistic sense of the word. Heat treating refers to a process wherein the metal is made harder. Annealing always means to make the metal softer. In order to make steel harder, it is heated to some temperature, and then cooled fairly rapidly, although this is not always the case.

Brass, on the other hand, cannot be made harder by heating it -- ever -- brass is always made softer by heating. The only way brass can be made harder is to "work" it. That is, the brass must be bent, hammered, shaped or otherwise formed. Once it has been made hard, it can be returned to it's "soft" state by annealing. The hardness of brass can be controlled by annealing for a specified time and temperature.

Unlike steel, which will be made harder when it is cooled rapidly, brass is virtually unaffected when it is rapidly cooled. Annealing brass and suddenly quenching it in water will have no measurable effect on the brass. Cartridge cases are made of brass. When cartridge cases have been reloaded a number of times, the case necks become harder.

Annealing will return the cartridge case necks to their factory original state. The question is, what is "properly" annealed? What does annealing do? Can a cartridge case be over annealed? What part of the case should be annealed?

Ken light brass annealing machine: The Ken Light Annealing Machine which

Can annealing a cartridge case make it dangerous? Below, you will find the answers to these questions, as well as a number of other questions that you didn't ask. A great deal has been written about cartridge case annealing in the popular gun press. A great deal of what has been written about annealing is misleading, with one exception: articles and books by Dean A.

Grennell correctly describes the procedure.

Ken light brass annealing machine: Cartridge cases are made of

Although it is a very short description, it is correct. There is one slight error of fact, but it is on the side of safety and Mr. Grennell cannot be faulted for this in any way. In fact, if you do not have this book I recommend it -- even for "experienced" handloaders. There is much valuable information in it, much of it overlooked in other publications.

Ken light brass annealing machine: › Forums › The

The photo's are profuse and excellent, the explanation clear and concise, and the writing is witty and wry. After wading through this weighty tome, you will know more about annealing and cartridge brass than you probably bargained for. Few handloaders ever bother to anneal their brass. The few that do are usually dyed-in-the-wool "gun cranks" to use a rather archaic ken light brass annealing machine from the 's"crazy experimenters" or shooters who are involved in some form of competitive shooting.

There is good reason for this, too -- until now, annealing cartridge brass was, at best, a spotty proposition. The brass is either over annealed, under annealed, improperly annealed or some combination of all three. Annealing brass is time consuming, and for the most part, the damn stuff doesn't seem to shoot any better than before it was annealed.

Sure, the brass lasts longer, but it does not seem to make any improvements in accuracy. If anything, it might seem to open up groups. So much for the way you used to think about annealing. Now let's find out about doing it right. Not only will annealing make the brass last up to 10 times longer, but it will tighten up those groups too. Before I go into the why's and whereof of cartridge brass and the right way to anneal, let's review the traditional methods of annealing, the attendant disaster, and how they occur.

Next the cartridges are stood on their bases in the water. A flame from a propane torch is played over the case necks until the brass "just begins to glow" or "just before it begins to glow". When the magic moment is reached, the annealing is abruptly arrested by knocking over the heated case into the water. The fact that the case neck is heated unevenly and the case-to-case heating is hardly uniform doesn't seem to get much notice.

The reason for the water is that the bases of the cases must not be annealed, or even heated to any appreciable amount, for reasons you will learn about later on. Another method is to dip the case mouths into molten lead that is at the "correct temperature. Of coarse, there are the problems of lead sticking to the case solderingholding the case, and preventing the base from becoming over heated.

This process is obviously one for Superman: he could hold the case with his fingers of steel and freeze the base by blowing his supersonic breath over it. Quite frankly, I have never seen anyone use the lead pot method of annealing although I have read many articles describing it. I think I can see why it is not a popular method. First the cases are polished and then placed on a small block of wood or metal.

The case is placed on the platform and a flame from a suitable torch is played over the neck as the block is turned. This continues until the brass has a slight color change, and then the flame is removed. The flame must be hot enough so that the neck is heated sufficiently fast enough to prevent the base from heating to a critical point. Needless to say, this procedure will work fairly well, but requires a high degree of skill.

It is also very S-L-O-W! Can you imagine having to anneal several hundred cases using this method? Another drawback to this method is that you will have a decided lack of uniformity on the periphery of the case neck, and the case-to-case results will be even less uniform. So much for the "old methods". Our present day cartridge cases represent over one hundred years of continued development and refinement.

Cartridge cases are manufactured to exacting standards and tolerances from brass made especially for the purpose. A cartridge case starts life as a strip of brass. It goes through a number of processes on it's way from brass strip to finished cartridge case. It is punched, heated, cooled, cupped, washed, drawn, annealed, formed, "upset" and trimmed and polished, though not necessarily in that order, and I have left out a significant number of steps.

Suffice it to say, the manufacture of cartridge brass is involved and exacting. What we get is truly a marvel of manufacturing magic. Cartridge brass is annealed several times during the manufacturing process. Resources Latest reviews Search resources. Log in Register. Search Everywhere Threads This forum This thread. Search titles only.

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