272 replies to this topic

[fishy1]

How much did you pay for your brass rods Phoenix? I am looking at paying ?5 for 90cm of 7mm rod or ?8 for 90cm of 30mm rod, is this any good?
Regards

i think 7mm rod is too thin, but 30mm rod should be good. have fun cutting it.

[FrankRizzo]

I know i was thinking the same, I would probably spend more on hacksaw blades than on the rod itself! After a little more searching I have now decided that I am going to buy 100cm of 3/4" brass rod for ?12. There is also the option for 100cm of slightly thicker heaxagonal bar for the same price. If anyone would like the phone number for this source feel free to PM me.
Regards

Ouch! Why aren't you guys just casting scrap lead? There are posts on rec.pyrotechnics about how to do it quite easily with aluminum foil tubes. Or, you can use a spade bit to make multiple recesses down the middle of a length of 2x4 lumber and then rip the board down the center with a table saw, holding the two halves of the board together with clamps when filling each recess with molten lead and releasing the clamps after the lead has cooled enough to solidify to release your media. Such a board can withstand a few fill cycles before the holes enlarge from burning. When it's too burned, cut the board up into smaller chunks and fill your charcoal cooker with 'em.

[Erwin]

There is little copper contamination.
This might give problems with ammonium compounds like AP, for the rest it shouldn?t give problems as far as I know.

Edited by Erwin, 26 April 2006 - 12:00 PM.

[fishy1]

The main reason I am not casting lead is because I have learnt that brass works much much better in a ball mill. There is no contamination and it will last longer. Also I don't have a suitable place to melt lead...
Regards

lead is also toxic, but it's not really a problem unless handled alot.

Edited by fishy1, 26 April 2006 - 03:51 PM.

[Phoenix]

I got mine from www.arenastock.co.uk. Their prices are the best I've seen.

My main reason for using brass is the fact that it is not toxic like lead. There's an article in one of the BAFNs about the effects of lead on the body (or rather, the mind). It should put anyone off using lead if brass is a feasible alternative. The article summarised various bits of research into lead toxicity, and suggested that even minute quantities of lead (well below the amount needed to make you physically ill or affect your lifespan) had significant effects on things such as memory, concentration and IQ.

Lead also accumulates in your body. If you inhale the smoke from a green flare, you'll get a tiny dose of barium. Even if that was enough to make you unwell (which it almost certainly wouldn't be) the barium you'd inhaled would soon be excreted from your body. Clean slate. If you inhaled a tiny amount of lead, however, that would still be there the next time you inhaled a tiny amount of lead, and the next time, etc etc. Even if individual exposures are very small, lead is removed from the body very slowly, if at all, so it builds up.

To put that in context, lead media will contaminate BP or whatever you mill with small amounts of lead. Even if it doesn't look any smaller, and you 0.1g scales says it weighs the same, it is rubbing onto your BP. Mill something white and you'll see that. If you inhale any dust from the BP, or handle it, or inhale the smoke from it, some of this lead is being absorbed into your body. Over time this may accumulate. As I said, the level may not be dangerous to your physical health, but it could reduce your IQ or ability to concentrate, even at very low levels, and will not naturally sort itself out like some other things might. And of course, brass works better!

[Phoenix]

It's a while since I bought it, and they sold some things (brass bar was one of them) online then. I think it was about ?12 per 3m of 1/2" bar. I got 6m, for two 100mm diameter by 125mm long jars. They're both half full and I still have quite a lot left, so I could probably do 3 jars with that, in a pinch. Postage was ?10, so ?34 in total.

[Stuart]

Brass media is easier to produce too. Get a few decent hacksaw blades for a couple of quid, and a few feet of brass rod can be reduced to 1" media in about an hour. It'll last longer, and isnt as much hastle as melting lead and holding your breath while pouring it out.

Happy days

[fishy1]

Brass media is easier to produce too. Get a few decent hacksaw blades for a couple of quid, and a few feet of brass rod can be reduced to 1" media in about an hour. It'll last longer, and isnt as much hastle as melting lead and holding your breath while pouring it out.

Happy days

just how thick is this brass rod? a few feet in an hour is pretty quick.

[Frozentech]

just how thick is this brass rod? a few feet in an hour is pretty quick.

I cut up 12 feet of 3/4" brass hex rod in an hour before. Use a power saw with a metal cutting blade. 45 seconds per cut, and thats not pushing it at all. I cut it into 3/4" long pieces, and they work great.

[karlfoxman]

Brass is not that hard to cut, just use cutting fluid and cut it right using the saw. I have cut plenty of brass before. Plus builds up those muscles and keeps you fit for a while.

[Stuart]

Cutting fluid? Power saw? Pff, light weights . Use a hack saw.

The brass was about 1/2 thick. Cut it in half or thirds first, then 'stack' them in a vice. That way, once you've cut through one, you just keep cutting through the next. A decent hack saw blade will cut through brass as if it was butter. Buy two or three, as they will become blunt after about a foot, but still cut pretty well.