It looks to be made of "Naval Brass" either one of three types C46400, C48200 or C48500. There also a fourth naval brass specification C46200 used for wire and cables. To determine "what is it" one need to sometimes remember there are many brass alloys. All have copper as base metal and zinc as the other metal. Copper is always the primary metal, copper alloys are often labeled "Red Metals" or "Red Alloys" this grouping brass and bronze together. Most all to us have heard and know the difference between red and yellow brass. There are others that are less known, including Naval, White, Gilding, Tombac and Cartridge (there are more). Yes there is a difference between yellow and cartridge brass. Most yards do require these be separated (not always). Yellow brass is usually a 67/33 combination of copper and zinc. Cartridge brass is a 70/30 copper/zinc and some yards will pay a little more for it.
Now back to "what is it"? Brass has many useful characteristics that must be considered. Most know of it's low corrosion properties and this why we see it used for plumbing devices. Another brass property is it has a very low surface friction ratio, less friction equals less wearing and metal fatigue. This is why gears, bushings, keys, locks, hinges and hardware are often a brass alloy. Another useful brass property, brass will not spark with contact to other metal. Very useful when used around flammable fuels and combustible environments. For high speed production of parts made of brass, lead is added (very small amount). This is yellow brass C36000 or "high speed brass", the added lead acts like a internal lubricate, metal percentage (copper 61.5%, zinc 35.4% and lead 3.1%). The added lead enables a company to make more parts in a shorter time, increased profits with each production run! Say good by to C36000, As of 2010 California basically banned anything with lead in it (from keys to pluming fixtures) This is a big thing to any manufacturing company making brass "any things". This effects all of us, California is the seventh largest economy in the world. Almost any legislation in Cal. will effect the rest of the country (the world?). It had a immediate impact on us scrappers, the scrap brass price is down (did you feel it?). The law still allows for products to contain some lead (less than 1%). This is for the recycling of "end of use life" devices (that's us). I raised the lead subject, because when you use a product that has a lead content (we all do), some amount of lead enters your body. How much? A very small amount, the problem is lead is cumulative in our bodies (it just keeps adding up) and it's very toxic (mutates cells). There are many metals and additives that are added to make various brass alloys. All brass will have copper, with white brass having around 50% and red around 85%. Zinc is also in all brass with white having 45 to 50% and red brass only 15%. Aluminum, manganese, tin, iron, arsenic and even lead (about .25% in plumbing devices) is added in small amounts to make the many copper alloys we call "Brass". One of the "New" brass products is C69300 Green Dot Eco brass, made with a 95% recycled from scrap brass (that's us), the new additive "Silicate Inter-metallic Compound" (A mouthful).
Your brass I think is a Naval Brass that could have been used in a very corrosive environment or one that had a high combustible and/or corrosive atmosphere (toxic air). This could be a one of a kind device or only a few custom made for a very limited market. May even be a scaled down prototype, as brass is one of the easiest metal alloys to machine. I see, sell, use and scrap a lot of brass. Will scrap more than 300 pounds of yellow this year. We buy, sell and install a lot brass products. Your brass (winch?), I don't see why a winch would be made of brass. There's not a lot of mechanical advantage for this to be a winch, the gear ratio appears to be very low end. I think more likely to have been used to open/close a door or hatch. Are many other devices that require a manual opening or closing action that had to be controlled by hand (valve, shutter, baffle, lid). This could have been part of a steam engine, fire box, incinerator installed maybe on a sea going vessel. Maybe used in the transport/movement of liquids, gases or even solid materials in some mining operation. It's just to hard to tell with one picture and the provided information (purchased at a flea market). Does not look like low end yellow brass. For it to be heavy duty and strong would require it to be more reddish (higher copper content). It does have a aged look, has the tarnish (patina) of something old.
I wanted to talk about brass, because it's everywhere and has a lot useful applications. Many properties that need to be known. With knowledge of brass properties you can find and scrap more items "Made of Brass". Because of it's copper content their's a high scrap return value. Copper kills germs, virus, fungus, pathogens and limits the transfer of contagious diseases. Brass is used for it's acoustic qualities (bells, horns, pipes, reeds almost all musical devices have some brass). Anything that has repetitive, continuous movement, needs to be accurate, precise and reliable will have a high brass content. If it's needs to be machined, cast, extruded and bent in a high speed production and a mass produced manufacturing process, there' going to be brass. If it's used in any electrical, plumbing or monitoring device there will be brass utilized. My point there's a lot of brass out there, it's easier to find when you know why and how it's used.
Also remember almost any machined brass is going to have some lead in it. If your scrapping process requires cutting, grinding or dismantling any dust/residue needs to be dealt with in safety first manner. There is no safe minimal lead level, meaning any lead that enters your body is harmful. Occupation is the most common source of lead poisoning. Recycling and scrap medal processors are very likely to be poisoned by lead. Best practice in prevention include: protective clothing, gloves, eye and breathing protection, do not bring work clothes into your house and wash your hands before you consume foods or beverages.
Sorry everybody for rambling on about brass, maybe I told you something that you didn't know. Is it a winch? What is it? It's defiantly different than all of the other brass Iv'e seen.
the end.
- Need info cool brass winch,
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Originally Posted by wadarbr549
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