Forging Brass?

Aiko555

Aiko555

Joined
Apr 11, 2003
Messages
154
I know there are no stupid questions.......
I bought 5 small brass billets (solid cylinders) assorted sizes from the thickness of a sharpie to a roll of silver dollars. I know this material could make great hardware for some knifes but am unsure of how ro work it? Can I heat it in the forge and bang on it? Do I melt it and cast with it or do I hafta cut it and grind it into shape?

Thanks for your help.

PJG
 
Do you have any idea what type of brass ? Most brasses you could form by hammering then annealing and repeating the process. I'm not sure how well that or forging would work on leaded brass.Machining and filing is easy with brass.Melting might contaminate the forge because of the zinc and zinc fumes are toxic.
 
Mete, I've heard that before, about the forge contamination. Doesn't it have something to do with "not" being able to weld damascus, etc after having brass in the forge? What happens to cause this?
 
Anneal the stuff by heating to red hot and quenching in water. This softens it. Depending on the type of brass (some work harden very quickly) you may have to do this quite often.

Forge (More properly shape) it cold.
 
Some brass will forge just fine , some will crumble. Not sure of what you have. Try forging some in very dim light. Heat it to where you just start seeing some color in it. This is how I forge bronze and it forges like butter.
 
I don't have personal experience but as I understand the zinc somehow contaminates the forge. This won't happen just heating the brass , only if you melt the brass. Zinc is very volatile and and some will vaporize when the brass is melted.Zinc in steel is bad. If you arc weld galvanized (zinc coated) steel, the zinc gets into the steel especially the grain boundaries and makes a very weak weld [prevent by grinding off the galvinizing first] ...BTW I recently finished my celtic bronze leaf sword[miniature] which I made from silicon bronze rod which I hammered and annealed to form strip then filed it to shape [ I'm a blade maker too!! ]
 
Brass is easily worked cold but work hardens quickly so must be heated to dull red and quenched frequently. You will initially notice that the hammer makes a flat sounding smack when it hits annealed brass and gradually the pitch rises to a ringing sound and the metal stops moving. About this time it is necessary to anneal the brass with a propane NOT an acetylene torch. There is something about hot brass that acts as a catalyst to convert the acetylyene into a toxic gas. I am not sure of the chemistry but brass comes with a safety data sheet specifically warning about acetylene.
 
Mete said "BTW I recently finished my celtic bronze leaf sword[miniature] which I made from silicon bronze rod which I hammered and annealed to form strip then filed it to shape [ I'm a blade maker too!! ]

Hey, would love to see it if you're so inclined! I knew you scientist types could could also be artists!
 
You can hot forge brass. I've done it, I don't like to do it but it can be done. Heat it until it just turns barely dull red. Then work quick. As soon as it loses color, reheat. If it get's hotter, it'll melt. If it cools too much, depending on what you're doing, it'll crack (I was making hinges for a sea chest on a tall ship that spends it's life in either saltwater or brackish water, almost never fresh -- messed up a lot of brass turning the barrells when it got too cold and cracked -- pretty tight turn).
 
rhrocker, I have no idea how to post , If you'll post it for me I'll email a photo..... george, that's in interesting point about acetylene, I would never have thought of it since the valves and burner tips are made of brass !
 
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