Hello from a color blind scrapper who can't tell brass from copper

Welcome from South Dakota. I have good vision, and I still sometimes have trouble telling red brass from copper. Here's a link that might help.

Some notes on brass

I have a friend with the same problem as you have. He was dealing with plumbing, so in that case GENERALLY your pipe will be copper and your fittings, elbows, etc. will be brass.there is a saying brass is cast, and I can't remember the rest. Maybe someone else can finish the saying for me. What kinds of items are you having trouble identifying?

Here's another good link:

Piping and plumbing fitting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A general rule would be if the fitting is soldered on its copper. If it's threaded its brass.

Originally Posted by Patriot76

Another source for non plumbing items on the forum is the spark test. Using a grinder, you can identify all types of metals based on their spark patterns. Wish I could post a direct link, but my knowledge level does not match the technology others on the forum enjoy. Good luck.

This is a good tip, but Cu and brass don't spark. This is why sparkless hammers and tools are brass.

Eric

Hey sweaty1:

I don't know why but your problem kept me awake last night. Maybe because I have a friend named Bill and he has the same struggles as you. So I thought of a few things.

Do you have a wife or girlfriend or son or daughter living with you that you could train to recognize metals?

Another option would be to start your own thread on SMF. Some of the guys here start thier own threads to chronicle thier scrapping adventures. You could start the "sweaty color blind thread". When you run into something you have a problem identifying you could snap a pic and post it on your thread and someone here could help you identify it. I don't think anyone here would mind, and if they did they could just block your posts in thier settings.

I hope you don't give up. The struggle is real, but scrapping is very rewarding.