making a rose

[FireCat]

Well i hope i am posting this in the right are. I am working on making some roses. I have made them out of steel and copper in the past, but i am thinking of trying to use brass. Has anybody tried/done this before..? If so do i need to aneal the brass first like ya do with copper..? What kind of colors do you get with the brass. ? Any info would be appreciated..thanx

[Frank Turley]

There is a bewildering number of brasses on the market, depending on how the metal is alloyed. If you're using scrap brass, it's a crap shoot and a matter of experimentation. Some brasses can be worked hot and cold. Simple copper/zinc alloys of less than 30% zinc can be annealed in water at about 1,000 degrees F. If the zinc content is 45% and above, forget it. I wanted some vise jaw caps and I found some scrap 6" brass pipe with a 3/16" wall thickness. By experimenting, I found that I could cut it at a dark red heat with my hot cut, and I could work it hot, so I lucked out (like Perry Mason?).