'Annealing' - a heat treatment process where the metal is altered in some way, often for the purposes of changing some of its inherent properties like strength, hardness, or malleability for shaping or forming it. The process of heating a metal until it is red hot for awhile and then letting it cool softens it up, loosening up the molecules allowing for much greater ease for resizing or working without creating internal stress-related defects in the metal. The then molecules then lock into place as the metal re-crystallizes, or hardens, as it cools.
