casting Brass

[Justin Caradoc]

Ok I have been playing around with casting pewter and I am wanting to make some award medalions for my local kingdom. The colors of the medalions are blue and gold so i was thinking if I could cast them in brass that would be the gold part. Does anyone know where i can buy brass ready to be melted and what temp does brass have to reach to melt? I have a propane torch I have been melting pewter with and am going to make a gas foundry out of a BBQ propane tank for better melts. also can you cast brass into plaster or do I need to use sand? Thanks for any help.

[ThomasPowers]

I like casting brass in petrobond oil sand, otherwise a real investment is suggested. Brass melts at almost 3 times the temperature of pewter and so things are a lot more picky safety wise! You will need a foundry and a crucible.

There are hundreds of brass alloys; for simple brass castings we used plumbing fittings that were completely dissassembled and DRIED! A steam explosion in brass can ruin your whole LIFE! When you heat brass it gives off zinc fumes that are toxic and loss of zinc makes the pour less fluid. For small pours american pennies made after 1984 can be used to refresh the zinc.

I learned to cast brass through an out of hours course at a local college's find arts department. I highly suggest you take such a course or work with someone who has the skills already. I consider casting of high temp metals much more dangerous than working with hot steel even when the steel is seveal hundered degrees hotter then the molten metal!

[Irish Rover]

Most Brass melts at around 1600 Fahrenheit or 870 Celsius and most steel at 2300 Fahrenheit -- 1260 Celsius.
There are many grades of brass (due to alloys) that have far different characteristics, but as a rule of thumb those temps are close.
I would think molding sand would be the far and better choice.

[DragonEagle]

haven't looked around for a source yet, but brass melts at around 1800 deg F. WARNING: brass is a copper/zinc alloy. nasty fumes! if you are going to risk doing this drink plenty of milk both before and after. also try to keep a lid on the crucible to hold the zinc in or you're going to be poring copper. people have cast brass in plaster so that shouldn't be a problem, just make sure that your mold is bone dry. Lost wax would be best.

[Justin Caradoc]

thanks for the info. I was going to make a foundry like I said. I am getting refractory cement from my local fire place store that is rated 3000 deg. Can I use this to also make a crucible? I just wondered cause I am cheap and I have to buy min of 50#s of the cement so i will have some left over. The foundry will only be used in the great outdoors so ventilation is good and I am getting a mask rated for zink/ lead fumes. I realy like living alot and want to continue to play with metal.

[bruce wilcock]

cast gun metal or bronze ,easier then brass till you get the hang of it.

[ptree]

Drinking milk to combat metal fume fever is an old wives tale. It does not work. The only proof against metal fume fever is to not breathe the metal fume. Either don't breathe fume or use a properly fitted respirator with the correct filters.

[mike-hr]

Ive made several crucibles using left over Kast-O-lite refractory cement. I used a 1 quart plastic mix cup bought from the paint store, filled 2/3 full with the cement, and shoved a beer can in the middle. Tap lightly around the edges to release bubbles, and set behind the woodstove for a week. Peel the can out, and the plastic off, and fire gently in the forge to make sure it's okay. I've melted bronze, copper, and aluminum in my gas forge, works good. An advantage to the beer-can crucible is you can leave a 2 inch solid mass at the bottom that makes the crucible more crush resistant and less stressful during pours.

[orgtwister]

crucible out of refractory never thought that would work gone try it now