Pros and cons of brass

[Tuba Dave]

I have a lot of brass stock. Flat and round. It is available to me and machines easily. I see many shop projects that use steel for things like indicator bases, chip holders, stops, clamps, rods, etc.

I know brass work hardens very easily, so I would avoid using it in a flexible area, such as for a clamp of some sort. And I realize it is softer than steel so it will dent and ding easily. So anything that is dimensionally critical is out, also I think it is more susceptible to temperature variation that steel. (is this true?)

Is there any reason I should not consider brass for some tool making projects or for jig or fixture uses?

For example, consider a vise stop for the milling machine. The type that bolts onto the vise. Is there any reason I should not use brass for this project?

 

[pontiac428]

Brass expands thermally only slightly more than steel. It's not too far out. The main issue will be hardness, brass has a Brinell value of 60 vs. 130 for mild steel. I'm sure we all think, hey, we use aluminum a lot, and it doesn't get worn out... Because aluminum is anodized, it can reach hardness of 50 on the Rockwell C scale- that's the secret! Blackened brass may look anodized, but it's the same selenium/copper conversion used to cold blue steel.

 

[francist]

One thing I like about brass is that it's actually a bit heavier than steel so for items where you want to get the most weight for a given size then brass (especially leaded brass) is a good choice.

 

[jwmay]

I say go for it. The worst that can happen is that you find it it doesn’t work for whatever application you’re considering. I think I’d use it if it was “available to me”. Doesn’t make good cold chisels though. That’s a definite.

 

[toprecyler]

If you have the material on hand already, and if just for you, go for it. Worse case if it doesn’t hold up, you can remake again. And you will learn something in the process.

A lot of times, you might find another feature to add anyways and make version 2 better anyways.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[markba633csi]

Brass is expensive as it contains copper- consider yourself lucky
It's fun to machine but beware of the chips, they fly everywhere and can get in your eye

 

[matthewsx]

I’d say make pretty things from brass. You can also trade for other materials, many folks here would be interested.

John

 

[Jspan]

I would use the brass to make whatever. Like others have said worst case is building skills and having to re make out of something else.

The other thing is if you wanted you can always melt down the chips and parts the didn't work and cast into something else or even a stock of some kind.That is what I do with the aluminum in my shop

 

[RaisedByWolves]

[/QUOTE]

Brass is expensive as it contains copper- consider yourself lucky
It's fun to machine but beware of the chips, they fly everywhere and can get in your eye

I’d say make pretty things from brass. You can also trade for other materials, many folks here would be interested.

John

Both of these.

Brass is pricy for just making general objects.

Save it or trade it off.

 

[homebrewed]

Brass can be problematic in situations where it can self-feed. This most commonly occurs when enlarging holes with drill bits. I haven't tried it but suspect that climb milling brass with a manual mill also could be "interesting". Especially if your feedscrew/nut have a fair amount of backlash.

But once you understand its machining properties you can avoid these situations, or buy/make/modify tools to mitigate the problem. For instance, "dubbing" drill bits for cutting brass is easy to do and takes care of the self-feeding problem quite nicely.