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Grades of brass

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1hand:
Hello,

I stopped by my local scrap yard to see if they had any scrap brass, and they do. A barrel of what they call yellow brass, and a barrel of what they call red brass.

I'm figuring the yellow is mostly 360, mostly pipe and fittings,but what about this redish colored brass. Is it any good for machining? there is 4 or so 6" disks on top thats begging to become a flywheel. They said I can come back tomorow and dig through them barrels if I want.

Matt

Powder Keg:
There are many grades of Brass'. The red stuff is most likely bronze. Mostly copper and Tin. That's why it's so expensive. It usually machines nice. But if you get a piece of aluminum bronze, The machining will take you longer for sure. When drilling make sure that you grind your drill bit right or it will grab. I use a 1" paint/chip brush with natural bristles and hold over my tool to keep those little chips from getting everywhere. Good luck!!!

1hand:
Thanks, powder keg.

Bogstandard:
Matt,

Most of what you call yellow brass will machine up just fine using normal brass settings.

When you come to bronzes, it is like walking thru a minefield. Each type normally has a specific way of machining, some like fast and furious, others slow and steady, get the wrong method and you can be in deep s**t.

As PK mentions above, Ali bronze (of which there are many different mixtures) can easily catch you out. I tend to keep it on the slow and steady, otherwise it is liable to just grab your tool and form a skin so hard you just can't get thru it. I bought hundreds of feet of ali bronze 1/2" hex from a scrappies a few years ago, and I use it all the time, but only because, thru trial and error, I found out how to machine the stuff correctly.

So really, purchasing 'yellow' brass is fairly safe, but the bronzes can be a bit dicey, unless you know exactly what you are getting.


John

Dean W:

--- Quote from: 1hand on January 13, 2011, 02:58:52 PM ---I'm figuring the yellow is mostly 360, mostly pipe and fittings,but what about this redish colored brass.

--- End quote ---

Matt, most brass pipe and fittings are a 2xx series.  Generally, I've found it to machine well, but not like 360.  
360 series is mainly made in solid shapes.  Rounds, square, flat bar, etc.  
Thin wall tube and thin sheet is usually of cartridge brass, and not so good for machining.
Pipe seems to vary some, and I've seen it in a shade of color that looks just like the good 360 stuff, and in a reddish
hue.  Either machine well enough, in my experience.  

In the picture you see a piece of brass pipe, which shows the reddish color where it's been exposed, but the freshly
threaded ends are bright yellow/gold.
The piece to the right of it is 360 brass.
The bits of the engine are cast bronze.  There are lots of bronze products, like Bogs says.
This is just for a color comparison to maybe help you pick the good stuff.  I hope the colors show okay for you.

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