Bench Source Annealing Machine
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I just got my bench source annealer a few days ago. I finally got a chance to play with it. This machine is very well made. I don't think there is any plastic on it anywhere. The knobs are all machined aluminum as well as the feet. It spins the case while it is being annealed. I am running a two torch set up off of a 20lb grill bottle. Right now I am annealing fresh 300 blackout brass which will be available shortly in the classified section.
For those of you on the fence about buying this machine...it is a well thought out and well made setup. Don't hesitate.
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Congratulations, those machines sure are nice.:thumbsup:
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Excellent. My bench source has seen thousands of pieces of brass. I think it's the best annealer out there!
We just got done modifying a Y connector to accept 1lb bottles for mine. I ran off a 20lb'er for a while, but I don't care for having that much gas inside the house! The little 1lb'ers are quite a lot easier to deal with and take up far less space. I'll be sure to update my reloading bench thread when I get it all locked down.
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I'm curious to know what happens to the flame/heat as you run out of gas.
It occurs to me that Orkan probably has a regulator on his homes propane tank which would provide a consistent flame.I've seen a regulator mod for the giraud but for 500 bucks it should be done for me.
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Ahh. He just beat me on the posting. How much does the flame change as your bottles empty.
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@ragnarnar said:
I'm curious to know what happens to the flame/heat as you run out of gas.
It occurs to me that Orkan probably has a regulator on his homes propane tank which would provide a consistent flame.I've seen a regulator mod for the giraud but for 500 bucks it should be done for me.
The torches are run at such a low volume that I can't see a regulator having any bearing what so ever. You can visibly see the blue pencil tip of the torches shorten up as the gas runs out.
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I am running mine with hoses from a 20lb grill tank. It should do many many thousand before it starts showing signs of running out of gas. When it gets close I will probably just put another tank on and have that one filled or let it completely run out on a grill or something.
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So in the big scheme of things how much does that shortening pencil flame affect the annealing process?
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@ragnarnar said:
So in the big scheme of things how much does that shortening pencil flame affect the annealing process?
A lot. If you had the torches set wide open, you couldn't get the torches far enough away from the case using the mounting hardware available on the bench source, or any other annealer. They really blast the flame out of there on full open setting. So at that setting, it would be WAY hotter than when you dial it back.
If the gas runs out, obviously you'll see the flame shorten from your properly configured setting... and you can stop and swap out the bottle. It doesn't go from good annealing setting to bad without you noticing... if you are paying attention at all.
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I am running mine wide open, but the adapter I bought has a 10psi regulator built into it. I was not happy when I read the paperwork and found that out...but it is working fine. I'm sure the flame would shoot out much farther on a wide open hose.
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Yeah, your flames look pretty good to me. I don't think having a regulator is necessarily a "bad" thing. I just don't think it's needed either.
