Form: Man10G107 Rev. –C-
02-06-2012
13
14. When you’re comfortable with the setup you have and convinced that you are not over
heating the case heads, continue feeding cases into the Drive Plate until finished with that
particular caliber.
15. When done, if you have other cartridges that are similar in head size but longer or shorter in
length, now is a good time to anneal them as well. Only a slight adjustment will need to be
made in the height of your torch nozzles and your Timer setting will be very close to correct.
16.Otherwise, shut off the fuel supply to your torch nozzles and let the machine, Drive Plate
and torches cool down completely. (It is a good idea to let the Drive Plate rotate in ‘AUTO’ while
cooling). Turn off the Power Switch and then unplug your Power Supply from the machine &
wall outlet. Remove the fuel tanks from the torches and the torches from the clamps. Store the
unit as described in
SECTION II
earlier in this manual.
Tips:
If you ultrasonically clean your cases or brush the insides of the necks, place a swipe of 650
°F
Tempilaq® inside the mouth of your setup cases. It will work great to indicate neck
temperature.
The cleaner your cases are prior to annealing the better they will look. The surface condition
also plays a part in the looks of an annealed case. Only experience will help your consistency
in annealing. A good practice is to keep a log on the cases you anneal and take pictures of your
setups while annealing. We do that all the time when machining less common parts.
Always clean the exterior of your case necks and shoulders if they are smoked up with carbon
from firing. The heat from the torches will not travel into the cartridge cases uniformly with
carbon suit. As a matter of fact, the torches will bake the carbon in, making it almost impossible
to remove.
If your cartridge case necks turn charcoal gray when annealing, we have found that there are
usually traces of sizing lube left behind from the last resizing. If the cases were cleaned well
prior to annealing, you may be over heating or heating the necks and shoulders too quickly.
A good starting distance for the blue ‘pencil’ part of the flame tip to the case shoulder is about
3/8”-1/2” away. It will need to be closer for really small cases like the .22 Hornets or .218 Bees.
If you don’t over tighten the knobs on the clamp posts, you can “wiggle” them farther or closer
to the cartridge case without loosening them.
Always remember to set your Timer to a low setting when starting your setup. It is a helpless
feeling watching a case glowing orange while you’re waiting for the machine to index.
We cannot emphasize enough how important it is, “DO NOT OVER HEAT” the head of
your cartridge cases!
Please start out using old brass with a lot of firings. Grab 30 pieces and
run them over and over again changing your torch tip and flame positions. Afterwards, throw
them away. Practice makes perfect and it’s much cheaper and safer than melting a case head
in your rifle and hurting yourself or someone else nearby!