Scrap or not to scrap

[Black Ink]

I have some old brass pipe that I pulled from my house I've never really worked with brass so I heated a piece and let it sit for a day.The next day I split a piece and played around with it cold and with some slight heat,and it was just shattering.Is this stuff worthless,should I just scrap it?
TIA
Jason

[easilyconfused]

I've never done any brass or copper work but I know copper for sure work hardens and needs to be annealed after a while. Maybe it needed to be annealed? I think it is opposite to iron and needs to be quenched and not just slowly cooled but I may be mistaken.

[jimmy seale]

what i know is play with it and is work hardened so heat and quinch - get rid of it and tomorrow you will need it- that is the way my luck goes

[irnsrgn]

to anneal any copper based alloy, and silver, heat to red and then quench in water.

[Firegirl]

I've worked with some brass, the bowl pictured in my avatar is brass actually, and you have to heat to red, let cool to pink and then quench, and re-anneal A LOT! It's much more brittle than copper. But depending on the size of the pipe, could be cut into sections and made into nice bracelets or small vases. Have fun :)

[Black Ink]

thanks everyone i made a sweet chillie pepper today out of copper and i want to use brass for the leaf on top so im gonna try that tomorrow.

[fat pete]

if you were pounding it for a while you needed to anneal it and quench it.....after you do that it gets workable again......but it will harden as you bang

[riverman]

needing some patterns and tips on making a fish gig,heard of using leaf springs,thats a little heavy,want some thing lighter,prefer round tines,something that will stand up to using around rocks.Thanks Riverman

[skunkriv]

Most of the old ones around here used round stock for the tines and they were held together with a wedge. You have probably seen that kind but if needed I can post a pic. Have one hanging on the front of the shop . Have a friend in MO who collects them and as I recall most of his were made the same way. Garage door spring would be good stock to use.

[ThomasPowers]

note that old brass water pipe can have the zinc leached out of it making it more brittle as well.

[agsolder]

Brass pipe, tubing, sheet is usually work-hardened by the manufacturing process and needs to be annealed before you can make anything much out of it, and again, frequently, as you work it thereafter. Otherwise it just crumbles. When you heat it to anneal it and while forging, soldering, brazing, be SURE to have plenty of ventilation and stay away from inhaling the fumes. Toxic.

[Glenn]

What size was the pipe?