Add to the other comments . . .best one I've seen so far . . . not up to speed witn electronics . . . will have speed control on both motors . . . with two mechanical trip switches . . . one to start the feeder motor . . . the other to turn it off. Done things like that in Navy days 50 years ago . . . figure I can still do it one more time. Thanks for the video . . . made my day.
This is absolutely ridiculous. Thanks for sharing all of your work! After a lot of looking, I like this a lot better than some of the commercial ones out there, and it will be fun to build.
Harley Fee, Thank you. Make sure you check out this forum link, where this idea came from. There's a lot of good information here that will help you build yours: www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/434088_DIY_Annealing_Machine.html&page=1
Thanks Jim! It was a blast to build! I'm sure yours will look just as nice and function just as well... post a link when you're done with it so we can see it in action!
Where do you find those clamps you use to hold the torch head and the rod that comes down to hold the brass in position? are they readily available or something you built on your own?
+Gary Dickerson I started here ( lots of details and ideas ): www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/434088_DIY_Annealing_Machine.html The case and mechanics is built following that guide for the most part. Where I deviated is I used: PC Power Supply Power switch to control the power supply ( will vary on what kind of supply you use.. ) Potentiometer ( knob to control speed ) Arduino Mega Microcontroller Ramps 1.4 Board to control the steppers 2 Nema 17 Stepper Motors ( one for drum, one for feeder ) Hall effect sensor to detect drum rotation ( drum has a magnet on the back side that trigger the sensor every rotation ) LED Display for arduino I have the source code that I used to control the Arduino here: github.com/djmurf/Annealer If you end up building one and going down the path of using an Arduino versus what is specced out on the forum, let me know, and I can give you some more detail.
Hello Dean I am trying to build a annealer like you have here. I have everything to get the job done. But I must admit the arduino is kicking my butt. I think i may have bit off more then I can chew on this one. Any help you can provide would be much appreciated.
Hello Dean...after many deployments and moves, I finally settled in and have a bit of time to start reloading - again. last time I reloaded I was stationed in NM back in 85'. That being said, do you have a schematic/wiring diagram for this unit? I am almost finish with my reloading bench and I want to give this a try. Thank you so much for sharing your idea!!
Dan, I really don't have any formal plans or diagrams. Did you check out the arfcom thread where all sorts of variants of this annealer were put together? www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/434088_DIY_Annealing_Machine.html&page=1
The arduino was more of an experiment on my part, and it actually ended up working very well, however on the link above, there are all sorts of other non arduino methods that were used to drive the motors, speed, etc, and they are much simpler, and probably more robust. The arduino was a fun part of the project, but not necessary at all.
Great work Dean. Question regarding that "white" plastic wheel. I'm having a devil of a time trying to source those... where did you get them? Thnx and Great Job again!
Tom -- Thank You! I can't remember exactly where I purchased the delrin rod, but I do know that if you hit Ebay and search '2" delrin rod' you'll get several h its. Same search on the web in general will produce many result. Good luck!
Great littke machine. However not everyone has the skills/desire/need to have both a feeder motor and a spinner motor coordinated. So I'm building mine pretty much the same except only the spinner/annealer drum will be built. I will just add my brass by hand. Maybe incorporate it into an other step of reloading. Like for example, I resize a brass, and I put it through the annealer. By the time the annealer is done with it and ready for the next one, my next brass is resized and ready to anneal.
Skip -- I missed your comment last month, sorry about that! The whole set up is driven by an Arduino ( microcontroller ). Basically behind the drum I have a hall effect sensor mounted in the box, and a small flat magnet glued to the back of the drum. The magnet triggers the hall effect sensor every rotation. The arduino allows you to read the sensor and write code to perform an operation. I basically have a feed routine in the code that gets called when the sensor trips, and it feeds a case by driving the stepper motor. The stepper allows you to work in degrees of rotation, turn to 0, pause, turn to 180 pause, return to 0, etc. You can control the speed, direction, etc. If you're into working with electronics and the code that drives it, it's available here: github.com/djmurf/Annealer
I used an Arduino Mega to run the Nema 17 Stepper motors, and this is the display I used. www.ebay.com/itm/2004-204-20x4-Character-LCD-Display-Module-2004-LCD-Blue-Blacklight-Best-/222060838945?hash=item33b3db8021:g:vF8AAOSwECZUnidn
That's honestly hard to really say. The box was basically built from scrap wood that I had laying around, but it's mostly just plywood, so not much at all there. This is a very general breakdown: Display, Arduino, potentiometer, switch, stepper driver module, hall effect sensor was about $25 from china. 2 Nema 17 steppers were $36 Aluminum pan was about $6 I used an old pc power supply -- free! Propellor shaft connector for the drum was $15 The acrylic tube for the feeder was about $25, and you only need a small piece of it, so you may find a better deal. Torch kit: $19 Torch extension: $23 Propane mount: $14 Misc screws, nuts, bolts, wires, solder, etc, $20? It actually all adds up to about $180. You could probably do it much cheaper if you had some of the stuff laying around, etc. Funny thing is the electronics components were probably the cheapest parts of the whole build. If you're serious about giving one a shot, here is the source code I threw together for the arduino: github.com/djmurf/Annealer I will warn you though, it will take some tweaking depending on how you wire up the Arduino ( pins you use, etc ) This is where the idea came from: www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/434088_DIY_Annealing_Machine.html There are some great ideas on the thread, and it can actually be built much simpler if you follow the guides on the thread. Good Luck!
The arduino is cool, but why not just have a reduced pulley. You could do the math to figure the ratios. For those of us who are not technical savy.😊 Like the hose set up. Looks to make for easier adjustments. Could hook up a propane tank as well so as to not worry about running out of gas.
Joe, I used a hall effect sensor ( picks up a magnet ). I have a small disk magnet on the back of the pan that trips the hall effect and triggers a feed.
Mike - I started with something like this off of ebay: www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=linear+rail+shaft+support+bracket&_sacat=0 Measure your torch and find the closest size you can. I don't recall what "mm" size I bought. I had to do a little work on it. Chopped off the legs/tabs, then drilled and tapped a hole for a set screw. The rod was a long bolt with partial threading that I cut the head off of.
If you haven't already been here, this is a ton of info on this forum post that started all of this: www.ar15.com/forums/Armory/DIY-Annealing-Machine/42-434088/?page=1
Just saw this... I didn't buy it, was a "home" project... Started from the ideas on this thread: www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/434088_DIY-Annealing-Machine.html
Mainly because I knew C already, and was trying to learn the Arduino, also because I didn't know another way to do it. It's easier for me to code it via software than use a mechanical approach, since software is what I do.
