Brass/bronze salvage?

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wespete66

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I happened across an auction site which is selling old post office box sections. I never thought about it before, but they have to go somewhere when they remodel or upgrade.
Got to wondering, is the metal used in those p.o. box doors worthy of salvaging? Could it be melted down into ingots or bars for hobby use?
Far as that goes, what type of metal is it, brass/bronze, something else?
 
I recall someone mentioning that there is some form of brass/bronze/copper alloy that is very toxic, and unfortunately I cannot remember the name of it.

Maybe it was Beryllium copper ?

At any rate, be aware that some metals are very toxic, and you don't want to melt or machine them.

I would think post office boxes would be ok, but that is just a guess.

Typical art material is Evedur, which is a tradename for silicon bronze.

While Everdur is suppose to be good for sculptures, it may not make a good bearing material.

Some bronze/brass may have lead in it (probably most do).

If the price is right, it may be worth a try using post office bronze, depending on exactly what you want to do with it.

I am not sure if I would invest a lot of money without knowing more about the alloy.

The spectral scans that some folks have had done seem to be notoriously unreliable.

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