Softening brass

N

N.Southern

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Oct 9, 2016
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I came across some brass bearings at the scrap yard. I split them and cut them into one inch strips to make guards and bolsters from.
The problem I'm running into is when I try to straighten it out it breaks. I tried heating and quenching and it still breaks.
Anyone got a suggestion?
 
I have the same problem .Heating to red is answer /even then knows to break / .A did not notice brass to come any softer , even when I melt bras for molding its brittle ?
 
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you probably need to heat and quench, bend it a bit then heat again until its flat. note how much you can bend it before it cracks, and resoften before that point.
 
Natlek said:
I have the same problem .Heating to red is answer /even then knows to break / .A did not notice brass to come any softer , even when I melt bras for molding its brittle ?
Click to expand...

Sorry ! I mix up names ....................brass ........ bronze . I mind on bronze in my post .
 
I sure appreciate everyone's input. I may just cut the other bearing so the curve is running a different direction and give it a go that way. Hell, at 60 cents a pound I'm really not out much if it doesn't work.
 
you may have bronze. something to try, heat to 1200F, hold at temperature for 15 minutes or so, turn the furnace off and leave it till the next day. it is hard from a distance to know what you have, but it does not sound like 260 or 360 brass which are formulated to be fairly soft and easy to work. the temp above is for annealing 954 bronze, which is used a lot for bearings and bushings.
scott
 
it may be oillite as well oillite will fracture it has to be cast.. oillite is more porus than brass but looks like brass can be red or yellow in color.
 
The material used in bearing races is not the same as the brass used for fittings. Just scrap it and get proper sheet/bar brass or bronze.
 
Oilite ? Prelubricated bushings may be made from powder metals where the voids in the metal contain oil .They also may be an alloy containing lead ,also brittle !
Annealing of brass starts around 450F , then just let it air cool or watercool.
 
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