Pipe making and annealing brass

[Jerry V Lape]

I have been practicing pipe making, specifically working on different techniques to make the product better and especially to improve the method so it is more uniform and easier to do.  One area I am questioning is annealing?  I seem to be over heating the material with my Mepp torch and wondered how you might be annealing the multiple times required to form the entry pip in particular?

[T*O*F]

I seem to be over heating the material

Jerry,
It is only necessary to heat to a dull red apparent in low light.  If it's sunny or highly lit, this could be the source of your problem.

[Bernard]

I'v never had a problem heating brass too hot unless it drops off. to anneal it you have to plunge it into water when it's still red hot. this can be done repeatedly but to form a pipe you should"t have to anneal the material more than the initial time to make it workable.

[Curtis]

Jerry,

TOF is spot on with his advice.  One trick I have seen you can use in bright light is to soot your brass with a candle or lamp, then heat with a torch until the soot disappears.  Brass will anneal weather you air cool it or quench it.  I usually quench it just so I don't accidentally touch it while it is HOT.

Curtis

[mattdog]

A propane torch is plenty hot enough to anneal thin brass used on pipes, trigg. guards, etc.

[KLMoors]

Also, there's a lot of crappy "brass" out there that doesn't anneal well at all.

I haven't had any trouble with the sheet brass I've bought, but I wonder if maybe you have something that isn't really brass.

[LRB]

  Dull red. Air cool or quench. Over heating can cause  the zinc to begin separating, and make blotchy looking spots.