Ken Lite done cheap
- Thread starter ADIDAS69
- Start date
Like a dream
It is amazingly fast. I annealed a 2.5 gal. bucket filled to the brim with .223 in roughly an hour and a half. The motor is a 1.1 rpm geared, from Grainger. Total cost was about $120.00 the motor being $55.00 of that. As to torch saftey, all relevent inflamables were made safe before ignition. Also two fire extinguishers are within 10 feet in either direction including OSHA abroved fire blackets. Slob yes, suicidal No. If any one wants full schematics. Let me know.
It is amazingly fast. I annealed a 2.5 gal. bucket filled to the brim with .223 in roughly an hour and a half. The motor is a 1.1 rpm geared, from Grainger. Total cost was about $120.00 the motor being $55.00 of that. As to torch saftey, all relevent inflamables were made safe before ignition. Also two fire extinguishers are within 10 feet in either direction including OSHA abroved fire blackets. Slob yes, suicidal No. If any one wants full schematics. Let me know.
Sevens, you may a have point. That Watco stain probably could have been put someplace else. On the plus side the torches are at their lowest possible setting and as in the "lights out" shot you can see the Flame barely makes it of the edge of the rotor. Plus I'm still here to post about it...so we'll all keep hoping that's the case.
I don't know what a ken-lite set up looks like. BUT as for your set up, it looks like you're heating too much of the case. You ONLY want to heat the neck! Then, what quenches the case after it gets hot? I hope you're not letting it air cool!? ((A second look at the first pic shows the cases may drop out of the brake rotor into a can of water?)
My concerns are that you may be annealing way too far down the case. You only want the color change to extend just past the bottom of the shoulder. If it were me doing that, I would make the cases go further down into that rotor, just exposing the neck.
Why are you annealing? Are all the cases shot more than 5 times? That's how long it takes to work harden most cases. Doing it oftener than that, or just doing it to prove you can, is wasted effort and propane.
My concerns are that you may be annealing way too far down the case. You only want the color change to extend just past the bottom of the shoulder. If it were me doing that, I would make the cases go further down into that rotor, just exposing the neck.
Why are you annealing? Are all the cases shot more than 5 times? That's how long it takes to work harden most cases. Doing it oftener than that, or just doing it to prove you can, is wasted effort and propane.
Good points all
It's hard to see but the rotor is filled with water which acts as a heat sink and prevents any part of the casing below the surface being exposed to too much heat. You are correct that the casings drop into another Tuna can filled with 50/50 water alchohal. No the alchohal doesn't present a problem of ignition. At 70/30 yes it does. I annealed the afore mentioned .223 and a few hundread of the following (30-06, 300 win, 308 win) in one go with no problem. There is no problem with annealing after every shot though I agree it would be a waste of propane. I pick up a lot of brass from the range and so I do a high volume of annealing for that reason. After I have reconditioned the casing I do follow the 5 shot rubric. There is also sand paper on the support plate near the torches that forces them to spin.
It's hard to see but the rotor is filled with water which acts as a heat sink and prevents any part of the casing below the surface being exposed to too much heat. You are correct that the casings drop into another Tuna can filled with 50/50 water alchohal. No the alchohal doesn't present a problem of ignition. At 70/30 yes it does. I annealed the afore mentioned .223 and a few hundread of the following (30-06, 300 win, 308 win) in one go with no problem. There is no problem with annealing after every shot though I agree it would be a waste of propane. I pick up a lot of brass from the range and so I do a high volume of annealing for that reason. After I have reconditioned the casing I do follow the 5 shot rubric. There is also sand paper on the support plate near the torches that forces them to spin.