so i needed a brass hammer for engine work and i remembered that there was boat that i hauled off to a junkyard a couple years back and i took the propeller and rod off for my own junk pile and the rod is made out of a bronze. i was thinking about attaching a handle and then i realized that it works much better for engine repair as a rod. it’s more precise for tapping things and also you can place it and then hit it with another hammer. overall i’m happier with it than any store bought option and it’s a joy to use. i polished one half so the dark patina looks like a handle and then i covered it in beeswax so it’s easier to hold when i have oil on my hands. it is very satisfying
@@Anvil_knocker yes it’s softer than i thought it would be but i consider that a good thing. i think they use that material for boats so that it doesn’t create an electrical field and i need something like that to remove an strator style flywheel and to work on a magneto and it worked perfectly. it’s heavy enough by itself to use as a hammer or i can whack it with a hammer so i think it’s more useful than just a regular brass hammer.
The borax was a flux for the brass to bond to the steel crucible. Maybe not the best flux, but it worked, it bonded the brass to the steel. Cool project, tons of brass at the range, maybe I'll try it?
So.. it looks like you’re in a reasonably well ventilated area, but just a heads up, brass is a copper / zinc alloy: p. much anything alloyed with zinc will give off noxious fumes when heated like that - if you breathe them in, you may not feel much at the time, might not even cough - but you might just end up puking your guts out and pretty much feeling like death a little later - it’s called metal toxicity, I suggest (both to our resident TH-cam smith and to those in the comments thinking about trying this) that you take significant precautions to avoid breathing in the off-gassing when working with brass…
Don’t worry, my entire garage door was open the whole time, especially when I was melting everything together because the inside of my Forge looks like a white and green petri dish
What I've seen other smiths do is paint the inside of their canisters with white paint that has titanium dioxide in it. The titanium prevents the contents of the canister from welding to it. That being said I've only seen that done for canister pattern wielded Damascus. I don't know if it would've helped for melting the brass.
A modern cartridge consists of a casing, primer, powder and bullet or projectile. I understand that bullet has become a word used for a cartride, but it is not the same thing. A round ball in a muzzle loader is still a bullet. The ball, powder, patch and cap is not a cartridge though. I am not trying to be impolite.
What a project! I actually love the look of the final product. Can’t wait to see what’s next!
Thank you! I also think it came out pretty cool, I may do more brass projects in the future. Who knows
This was a hard project! Looks like you learned some new tricks here.
I definitely did, it’s the hardest project that you learned the most from
@@Anvil_knockerno you didn't
so i needed a brass hammer for engine work and i remembered that there was boat that i hauled off to a junkyard a couple years back and i took the propeller and rod off for my own junk pile and the rod is made out of a bronze. i was thinking about attaching a handle and then i realized that it works much better for engine repair as a rod. it’s more precise for tapping things and also you can place it and then hit it with another hammer. overall i’m happier with it than any store bought option and it’s a joy to use. i polished one half so the dark patina looks like a handle and then i covered it in beeswax so it’s easier to hold when i have oil on my hands. it is very satisfying
That’s very interesting, almost like a bronze top tool. Does it have any significant mushrooming from whacking it with a hammer?
@@Anvil_knocker yes it’s softer than i thought it would be but i consider that a good thing. i think they use that material for boats so that it doesn’t create an electrical field and i need something like that to remove an strator style flywheel and to work on a magneto and it worked perfectly. it’s heavy enough by itself to use as a hammer or i can whack it with a hammer so i think it’s more useful than just a regular brass hammer.
Your first lump of brass hitting the ground sounded like when you build some thing in Lego Star Wars 0:50
It’s strangely does, I wonder how they got that sound effect 🤔
The borax was a flux for the brass to bond to the steel crucible. Maybe not the best flux, but it worked, it bonded the brass to the steel. Cool project, tons of brass at the range, maybe I'll try it?
So.. it looks like you’re in a reasonably well ventilated area, but just a heads up, brass is a copper / zinc alloy: p. much anything alloyed with zinc will give off noxious fumes when heated like that - if you breathe them in, you may not feel much at the time, might not even cough - but you might just end up puking your guts out and pretty much feeling like death a little later - it’s called metal toxicity, I suggest (both to our resident TH-cam smith and to those in the comments thinking about trying this) that you take significant precautions to avoid breathing in the off-gassing when working with brass…
Don’t worry, my entire garage door was open the whole time, especially when I was melting everything together because the inside of my Forge looks like a white and green petri dish
Keep up the good work
I would recommend a cheap Amazon crucible and some sand to make a billet for forging. Any day forging is a good day though, right?
Definitely a good lesson learned, and a great day because you can’t go wrong in forging with friends
I was wondering how you mold things in forging… apparently with a lot of pain
Turns out digging a hole and dumping it in would’ve been a better option. I may invest in some real casting gear sometime in the distant future :)
What I've seen other smiths do is paint the inside of their canisters with white paint that has titanium dioxide in it.
The titanium prevents the contents of the canister from welding to it.
That being said I've only seen that done for canister pattern wielded Damascus.
I don't know if it would've helped for melting the brass.
I have seen that used for canister Damascus, I just didn’t think of it at the time
1:48 soup time
Cartridge casings. A bullet is the pointy bit goes in the front end of a cartridge.
That’s why I said bullet casings
A modern cartridge consists of a casing, primer, powder and bullet or projectile.
I understand that bullet has become a word used for a cartride, but it is not the same thing.
A round ball in a muzzle loader is still a bullet. The ball, powder, patch and cap is not a cartridge though.
I am not trying to be impolite.
cast the hole
That was my thought after the massive cohesion, I don’t know what I would do it though 🤔
Could have reloaded all of them