Thread: Annealing Brass

I am usually doing Cu. Never knew what the low temp was so i heat red and quench. Going to red likely causes more scale and quench shock knocks most off and my copper is always soft as it can be.

What kind of methods besides using a propane torch can I use to heat up a brass rod enough for annealing?

Which method would you advice a total newbie to use?

All you're doing when annealing is applying heat. Any heat source (provided it's hot enough) will do. For common brasses you're shooting for temps between 800 degrees and 1400 degrees.. If you don't have access to a torch you can use a charcoal fire or an electric stove eye to anneal brass although one of the small hand torches from the local hardware store is hard to beat for versatility or convenience.

I put the brass in a needle nose pliers (some folks call it a bird beak pliers) and hold it in the flames over the stove top, when it red I take it out and dump it in a cup of water.

You can tell the difference between hard and soft if you cut it with a wire cutter, hard brass snaps and fly off when cut, soft brass does not fly and may stick to the edge of the cutter.