"John Hall" wrote in message
...
I have a cast brass foot from an incense boat, (not that it matters, but
if
you know what that is, it might give you a better idea of what it looks
like), about 2 inches in diameter. It has been dropped numerous times and
needs to be straightened. I'm thinking of turning a hardwood female mold
as
close to the shape as possible, then tapping the rim from the inside out
against the mold until the rim is round and true again. BUT I am worried
about cracking as I straighten it, as a result of work hardening due to
the
bending and my rebending.
Is this, in fact, a problem with cast brass and if so, how to anneal
it?
I'm a little leary of just playing the torch on it. Could the kitchen
oven
be used for this? It can be set as high as 550 F. ? Would that high enough
to anneal brass? It's a self cleaning gas oven but I don't have any idea
what the temperatures run to in the cleaning cycle but have wondered if
that
might be useful for this sort of job or even drawing steel. Thoughts?

John

I wouldn't worry about using a torch. Set a soft reducing flame and gently
warm the part until you get a faint glow of red in dull light (or in the
dark) , then let it cool. Should be dead soft. No need to quench, they
do that with cartridges to prevent annealing the head.

You probably know to not try to do any straightening while it's hot. Brass
is hot short..

Harold