Sources for 353 brass

[devils4ever]

I'm looking to build a clock and started pricing materials. The best brass to use for clocks is 353. I priced it and I'm in shock. Onlinemetals.com has 3/16" X 12" X 12" 353 brass for $652! At McMaster-Carr a piece, of 1/4" X 12" X 12" 353 brass is $324!

I may have to use something else. I looked at an older post here and the prices seems to have doubled in 4-5 years!

Any thoughts?

 

[Eddyde]

Try eBay, lots of vendors there selling all kinds of metal in small quantities.

 

[Ischgl99]

Brass prices really spiked last year, I bought some flat stock from McMaster-Carr in the wrong size January 2021, went back a couple months later to get the right size and prices were already up about 50%.

I’m not a clockmaker, so was curious what 353 is and if 360 would work since it seemed to be very close, and came across this forum post.

Sourcing Brass for Clock Construction

I am going to build John Wildings' English dial clock and he specifies CZ120 (hard engraving brass) and CZ 121. A search shows that these specifications have become CW612 and CW 614 respectively, and are equivalent to ASTM 36000 and ASTM 38000. So where do you buy the stuff? There seems to be...

mb.nawcc.org

It sounds like the main difference is the color, if you don’t care about that, then 360 might be a cheaper alternative. I buy many of my materials from Midwest Steel Supply, they don’t have 12”x12” sheets of 360 brass, you can get 260 in that size, but their prices are usually pretty good compared to other places.

 

[devils4ever]

I'm not that concerned with color, but is 360 close enough to 353?

 

[Ischgl99]

It depends on what parts you are making, it appears that 353 would be better if you are engraving clock faces and things like that. For mechanical components, it is slightly stronger since it has less lead, but doesn’t look like enough to be an issue. I found a reference to it having better formability than 360, so if you are bending parts, that might be the better choice. Other than that, I could not find anything to indicate 360 would not work.

While searching, I came across this link for a better price on it than McMaster-Carr.

Alloy 353 High-Leaded Brass Plates On Sequoia Brass & Copper

Browse Alloy 353 High-Leaded Brass Plates in the Sequoia Brass & Copper catalog including Item #,Thickness,Width,Length,List Price

catalog.sequoia-brass-copper.com

 

[devils4ever]

Yeah, they look better on price. Thanks for the link.