Brittle metal?

[Leslor3]

I was trying to mix brass and aluminum. And when I poured the mixture out it came out very brittle. What did I do wrong? 

[Leslor3]

I'm new to forging. Had mine about a month or two. I was trying to mix aluminum and brass and when I poured it out and it cooled it was brittle and shattered like glass. What did i do wrong? 

[Steve Sells]

who knows, if you dont tell us anything we cant help

[George N. M.]

OK, I'm going to try responding a 2d time.  My comment was eaten the on the first try.

As Steve says, we need more information.  For example, what proportion of Al and brass were you using?  What was the composition of each metal?  Brass is usually an alloy of Cu, Sn, Zn, and Pb.  Same for the Al.  Also, if you were pouring the alloy were your molds cold or preheated?

Not all metals alloy together well.  Metallurgists have been working with various alloys for a long time and many alloys do not have any beneficial properties.

I suggest that if you are just messing about with whatever scrap metal you have on hand that you educate yourself on some basic metallurgy and chemistry.  You don't need enough for a degree but some basic knowledge will keep you out of trouble and keep you from wasting your time.

Also, what were you trying to accomplish?  What end result were you shooting for?   If nothing else, you have learned that Al and brass do not make a good, usable alloy.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[OddDuck]

You created an unknown variant of aluminum bronze. And yes, it's harder than Japanese arithmetic and brittle if alloyed wrong. Not much use except to create a goldish colored metal that can't be used for anything, unmachineable, undrillable, and shatters. Is aluminum bronze useful? Yes, but it has to be alloyed correctly. It takes a surprisingly small amount of either aluminum or copper to contaminate a melt, separate crucibles should be used for each different metal melted. And, it's melted, not smelted. You aren't turning raw ore into metal, that is smelting.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Les, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many members live within visiting distance. 

Not to dog pile on you but "forging" has nothing to do particularly with casting. They are two different, if related by metal, crafts. 

And PLEASE do some reading about casting metal, ESPECIALLY the safety sections. Casting is inherently dangerous. Inherently means it can't be made undangerous, you are taking serious risks doing it. Period. Safety equipment is an absolute MUST. Steam explosions are easy to cause with the slightest little mistake and can blow molten metal a surprising distance. I've personally seen an aluminum spill on a concrete floor splatter molten aluminum almost 30'. Being burned by molten metal is a horrific injury and can be: disfiguring, crippling or fatal. Forget the pain and kicking the morphine addiction after you get out of the hospital.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Leslor3]

Thanks OddDuck yes that's what I was going for. I just didn't expect it to be brittle. Should have read up on it more. And it was just to see the pretty colors lol. I wasn't out to create or make anything. 

[ThomasPowers]

My Foundry Fiend////Friend; makes his Al bronze by stirring the molten Aluminum with copper wire.  The molten Al will dissolve copper even though it is way cooler than Cu's melting temp.  Doesn't take much to get Al Bronze.