Under Annealed?

[OzzyO20]

First go with the Vertex this morning. I used some hornady brass to test torch angle, dwell, etc. Cooked a few on purpose just to see what it looked like. I used Tempilaq 650 inside the case mouths every now and then. It would turn black and smoke, no matter how long it dried. Also turned a few cases rose on the outside.

All in all, does this look decent or underannealed? Just a few 1/10ths under 3 seconds. I watched for the orange flame also. A few would barely flicker off the back end and never ignited in the case mouth like the ones I cooked intentionally.

I know it’s hard to tell, but maybe some of you guys with far more experience can weigh in. They all have a very nice light gold tint.

 

[OzzyO20]

Also, any trick for getting tempilaq out? I don’t want to get out my ultrasonic cleaner for 4 pieces of brass.

 

[Fig]

I use the stick that melts rather than the paint (much cheaper too). You can't tell by just looking at the brass. It's hard to tell by looking at the flame, but some guys do it. I know mine anneal correctly, and I pin tumble them immediately after and the straw color Lemishines (yes, that is a verb) off the necks by the time they come out. The only way to tell without using the real time annealing temp is with a Hardness tester, and I don't know anyone who has one just for annealing, though I do know a machinist who has one at work and does test his annealed brass on it.

 

[spife7980]

I used Tempilaq 650 inside the case mouths every now and then. It would turn black and smoke, no matter how long it dried.

Thats it working, when it hits the target temp it melts turning clearish for a brief blip and then will turn black and start to burn off if you keep heating it.

I typically use 750 on the necks myself so I went looking for some videos of 650 in use and they are all of vertex machines and everyone is putting it lower on the outside case body. So they dont necessarily say when the neck is itself is done but they are looking at when right below the shoulder starts to turn and correlating that to the neck being the proper temp.

I wouldnt go that way myself but annealing is a pretty unspecific science as far as use reloaders go when put into application, Im sure it works fine.



And for getting the tempilaq off I use a 0000 steel wool. Make sure you blow all the little fibers left behind out.

 

[OzzyO20]

Thats it working, when it hits the target temp it melts turning clearish for a brief blip and then will turn black and start to burn off if you keep heating it.

I typically use 750 on the necks myself so I went looking for some videos of 650 in use and they are all of vertex machines and everyone is putting it lower on the outside case body. So they dont necessarily say when the neck is itself is done but they are looking at when right below the shoulder starts to turn and correlating that to the neck being the proper temp.

I wouldnt go that way myself but annealing is a pretty unspecific science as far as use reloaders go when put into application, Im sure it works fine.



And for getting the tempilaq off I use a 0000 steel wool. Make sure you blow all the little fibers left behind out.

Thanks Spife. The Vertex instructions suggested 650 inside the case mouth if the cases are clean enough, and mine were spotless so I tried that. Gonna be a PITA getting it out now..

 

[lash]

Wrap some 0000 steel wool around a used bore brush for use inside the necks.

As to your results, I cannot speak to it. I still do mine by hand and they look a lot like factory annealed Lapua when they are done. I don't really care what they look like as long as the neck tension remains consistent and I'm not burning the additives out of the brass.

 

[918v]

U can’t go by appearance alone. Also, the more u clean the less the annealing will show.

 

[OzzyO20]

U can’t go by appearance alone. Also, the more u clean the less the annealing will show.

Man that’s a huge ‘ah ha’ for me. I used some once fired, never cleaned Hornady to set up the torches, wheel, dwell, etc. and they we’re looking like what I consider textbook annelaed brass. The ultra clean Lapua just had a straw/golden lookinh ring in one small area.

 

[Sheldon N]

It may not be all that scientific, but one thing you can do is anneal in a dark room. Figure out how long it takes for the inside of the case neck to just barely start to glow, ie the very first moment when you see anything other than black. Then back off the time a bit from there. The threshold for beginning to see visible light radiate off heated metal in a dark room is about 900 degrees.

Works good enough.

 

[918v]

I use a 650 degree tempilstik. Much better than Tempilaq. Way easier to use.

 

[BigTex]

I use a 650 degree tempilstik. Much better than Tempilaq. Way easier to use.

Me too

 

[OzzyO20]

I use a 650 degree tempilstik. Much better than Tempilaq. Way easier to use.

Me too

How does it work differently?

I think I did something right. My ES went from 35 to 19 and SD dropped from 10.0 to 6.6.

I lost a little speed though. 11 FPS average. Does that make sense to everyone?

 

[mdmp5]

Never had luck with tempilaq. It went from straight orange to black in one second. There was never a melted clear stage for me.

 

[Fig]

How does it work differently?

It looks like a stick made of sawdust, but it’s plasric or something. As soon as the case comes off the torch just touch the stick to the rim. If it melts it’s at or above the temp on the stick. There’s a dot on the case rather than a mess, but I do it just because it’s less hassle.

 

[918v]

Get the 650 tempilstik rather than the 750, as the latter does not have a good shelf life.