Dan Berger writes:
I used to do some blacksmithing and you soften the metal by heating it and putting it in a bucket of ashes and allow it to cool slowly.
The opposite is tempering- heat it and cool it fast in water- this hardens it but can make it brittle so you have to know what you're doing (the color of the metal is the key) Knife makers can tell you about this.
This applies to steel. Cuprous alloys have different characteristics regarding heat, annealing and hardening. Quenching heated brass will not make it harder or temper it. fjm
_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l