I started my knife shop on her maiden voyage yesterday and ground out (yes, ground---no forge yet ) a pretty decent blade. I've got a deer antler ready to go on the end of the tang, but I was wanting to finish it up with a brass guard, preferably a hunk that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 1x2x2. Thing is, I got NO CLUE where to scrounge for brass.

A buddy of mine found some cheap brass "door treatment" at a local hardware store, but no joy at mine. Suggestions? Thoughts? Outside the box?

Kick plate of a door. Many stores have them. Brass pipe, slit it long ways and flatten it out.

Most local area's have a good will or a thrift shop I find lots of brass items that have been discarded cheap just have to cut to shape. Just make sure it is brass not plated lol.
Firegnome

If you decide to collect brass and remelt it be careful of the fumes, many brass alloys use lead as a component. Use proper ventilation and don't overheat or you'll burn the zinc out which is another fume hazard.

Old faucets are a decent source of castable brass.

Frosty

I work in a truck shop and we replace alot of brass air fittings, I keep them and melt them down, you could try local truck shops, might be surprised.

If you need to cast some head to your local shooting range/popular shooting area. If it's a privately owned range ask permission of the management. Look for brass-coloured cases, some stuff can be mild steel or aluminium these days. Certainly observe the warnings posted above. (I had perhaps 100,000 .22LR cases I was going to cast into something useful just to get it out of the way, but when the scrap prices skyrocketed we sold it at nearly

Try your local locksmith. A locksmith shop will generate a lot of scrap brass....
Jerry

Scrapyard, especially a non-ferrous oriented one.

Not trying to show it off, (ok, may be a little ), but this guard was simply cut from 5/16" brass plate. I got mine from the tool and die scrap pile where I used to work. Both pieces were cut from a piece no more than 1" x 3" 5/16". You might see if there is a machine shop in your area that may have small scraps. They often keep such small scraps for quick one off runs. Its just my two cents, but I wouldn't recommend using anything thicker than your final guard or but plate thickness. It's just that much more material to remove. Hope this helps

Well like doge said, machine shops are a good source for brass, stainless.alum., ect.
Get in good with the owner( make him a trinket of some sort). If nothing else you may have to pay scrap price for it. Good luck, And the other ideas sound great also.