On May 16, 2003 07:06 pm, you wrote:

"Alan Walker" wrote in message
...
heat it up to
cherry red in a kiln or a barbecue pit. You can let it cool slowly or
use tongs to pick it up and douse it in water. The second way tends to
leave a cleaner wire.


Hi, Alan.

Okay, I got some home depot wire and tried it in my 3 burner gas Weber.
After letting it run for a long time with the coiled (large diameter
coil) I found that I had barely gotten to 700 degress, and the grill was
smoking like a major fire! Major parts could be described as "cherry"
red, but not glowing brightly.

My suspicion is that that was not enough, but it's a heck of a way to
clean or pre-heat the grill! I cooled the wire by hanging it on a
wrought-iron hook and spraying it with the hose.

Has anyone tried putting the wire in the oven during a cleaning cycle?
That would seem to get hotter and be more cost-efficient - if you don't
risk destroying the oven or setting the house on fire.

Regards,

Bart

===============
Bart, and all.
This was one of many notes on annealing available via the search engine of
choice. I'd think that a simple propane torch would be plenty enough to do
the deed. For a definitive reference on metal handling see the
"Machinery's Handbook". Mine is the 23rd edition.

From: http://www.anvilfire.com/FAQs/archiv..._index_131.htm

Annealing is the softening of metal by heat treatment.

Ferrous metals are annealed by heating to just above the A3 point (a point
above non-magnetic that varies with the carbon content), and then cooling
slowly. For common carbon steels the cooling can be done in dry ashes, lime
powder or vermiculite. For high carbon and alloy steels annealing requires
cooling in a furnace that has temperature controls so that the rate of
cooling is no more than ~20°F/hr.

Non-ferrous metals such as aluminium, brass, copper and silver are annealed
by heating to a low red and quenching in water (the opposite of steel).
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