thehobbit1211 Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I am trying to make a pommel for a sword i am making. my first attempt was to cast the pommel, but I couldn't find a way to successfully cast the brass. My next step was to try and plate aluminum which i can cast. I found this online https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFK9H4AG_Ww and decided to try it. It works great on some steel that i have but i could not get the brass to transfer onto aluminum. My question is does the process in that video not work for aluminum? is there something i need to do differently or am i wasting my time trying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 First I suggest you look up melting temperature of Aluminum, then of brass, good luck sorting the physics of that one out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Evans Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 The guy in the video was about to do some brass brush burnishing rather than plating…i must confess I got bored and did not watch it all. It works fine on steel cold and even better hot. I have used the process with a brass cup wire brush in the Ø100mm (4") angle grinder on a handrail project.I would try and get your pommel cast, forged or filed in brass if that is what you want it to look like. If you just want it yellowy then probably best / simplest to do yourself would be gold paint or gold leaf.I have seen some gold anodised Aluminium, you might explore that.If you are doing anything other than hanging it on the wall then be prepared to have to recolour it occasionally.If you want a working sword pommel that looks like brass, best make it in brass.Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 While brush burnishing brass on aluminum seems to work I'll be interested to see if he posts the results of electrolysis. It never occurred to me to try this on al but what the heck, it works a treat on steel and iron.I wouldn't bother sand blasting the base metal unless I didn't like how it turned out on clean.Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Pommels serve a vital purpose in controlling the balance point of a blade and some in the placement of vibration nodes. Did you intend to mass up the pommel till it weighed the same as the brass one it replaces? To me this sounds like: "I wanted to make a gun barrel but I can't machine steel so I made it out of wood" . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halbrust Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Why can't you cast brass? You just can't get it hot enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Sure you can cast brass but the zinc content makes fumes that are a health hazard and if you over heat it they can be a serious and significant hazard.Most folk are not willing to mess with casting brass in a home shop foundry. I have a good friend who is a professional caster and scraps or gives away brass donated to him. What brass he keeps is for brazing and forming as components of sculptures or tools none goes into the crucible, none.Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Silicone bronze on the other hand can be melted and cast.. The issue there is the initial color is rather pale compared to brass but there are coloring solutions available to make the bronze look like almost any color of metal. Silicone bronze naturally ages to a deep brown exposed to air. Let me clarify my remark about silicone bronze. Bronze casting alloys sold by Atlas Metal Sales are safe to handle all precautions normal to molten metal taken. The Alloy is identified as C.D.A. Alloy 655. runs about $12 / lb if memory serves. www.atlasmetal.com gives down loadable brochure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micah Burgin Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Electroplating may be your best bet. Problem is you need to make certain jumps, and electro is fundamentally limited to elemental things. I.E. no alloy electroplating. One interesting and easy way to copper-coat steel though is to quench hot steel in a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar that's had copper sitting in it. you can also dry out that mix to get a concentrated crystal of copper oxide-y gunk, but I'm not sure if mixing that into water will have the same affect as mixing the afformentioned stuff with water. You get a leaf-thick coating of copper, and it's usually free of oxidization. Certainly looks nice though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andys MQ Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Sorry guys brass and aluminium do not mix. copper and aluminium destroy each other. As in aluminium will become an anode for the copper and corrode rapidly, brass is something like 60% copper and as such should not be used together. If you tried to electro plate it I believe it would not work. If anything happened it would not look great in sure, and defiantly woulnt last. As was mentioned steel may be a better option for electro plating with brass or copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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