okunewck@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu (Phil OKunewick) (01/31/91)
I've been doing some work with brass lately, involving annealing and hardening. Does anybody know if brass can be tempered too, like steel? Specifically I'm working on carbide lamps, so I'm guessing the brass is pretty generic. To harden, I heat it up to glowing red, then air cool it. For annealing, I heat it to glowing red and dunk it in the dishwater. (Hey, I'm doing it in my kitchen.) Does anybody have suggestions for better ways to heat-treat brass, especially (but not limited to) ways that can be done with a propane torch?