Annealing question

[Grim/Don]

I fired up the Chiminea today to get ride of some scrap wood a buddy had given me (he was moving and didn't want to leave it behind). I sat there watching the glowing coals under the fire and got to thinking... Grabbed a 6 inch piece of 3/8 rebar and my tongs. I put the piece in and about 15 minutes later it was glowing a nice, dark red. My son came out and saw what I was doing, so we had to get the goggles out and pound on it a bit.

I got to thinking, most of the time when I burn stuff in my Chiminea, it takes a while to cool. Sometimes, I threw in the last piece of wood at 11:00 at night, and at 6:00 the next night, there's still hot coals under all the ash. Would this work for annealing metal? Throw it in and let it heat up and cool over 24-48 hours?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

It would most likely destroy the metal. Put in a piece of rebar and look at it a day later. It will be eaten up badly.If it is a good grade of carbon steel it may decarb a lot.Just save the ashes in a big pail. (without the coals) and put the hot bar in that. It will anneal very well.