Brass: What alloy, and where to buy

[chrisinestes]

I just bought a plan set for a horizontal steam engine off eBay. Looks like a nice set of plans, and I'm excited to get going on it.

Anyhoo... There's a few brass pieces in it...

What's a bright & easy machining brass alloy?

What's a good place to get my brass? I'm in a small town, so I'll likely have to find an online supplier.

While I've got your attention... Is there a preferred place to buy bronze (Oilite type) bushings?

Thanks!
Chris

 

[kvom]

Most bar and rod stock I buy online is 360 brass, which machines very easily. My main suppliers are Enco and McMaster.

 

[chrisinestes]

Most bar and rod stock I buy online is 360 brass, which machines very easily. My main suppliers are Enco and McMaster.

Thanks... I'll check them out.

Chris

 

[Wizard69]

Bushings and bearing stock can be had at bearing supply houses. Sometimes it pays to buy from a specialist sometimes Mac Master Carr is hard to beat.

 

[10K Pete]

I really like these folks for small qtys of metal:

http://www.speedymetals.com/

For short or small pieces, when you get the comments box in check-out, ask
them to ship USPS. They will and it's way cheaper than UPS. Priority Mail
is great!

Pete

 

[Tin Falcon]

Most bar and rod stock I buy online is 360 brass, which machines very easily. My main suppliers are Enco and McMaster.

Enco tends to be cheaper and often offers sale prices but you usually need to get a 6ft piece on smaller stock sizes. And expect the oer to take a week or two to get.

Mcmaster is fast and you can get 1 foot pieces if needed. hard to beat customer service from mcmaster Carr. I have actualy showed up at the warehouse placed an order on my credit card using there courtesy phone and had the order in hand in 20 minutes. Prices depending on the item(s) may be a little higher than the on line metal suppliers. I get overnight shipping at ups ground rates . this may vary with location.

You may also want to check out Hobby Metal kits http://www.hobbymetalkits.com/index.html Bernie is a great guy to deal with . I cannot speak about his shipping habits as I usually pick up a couple bundles of stock when he is at Cabin Fever Show.

As always compare prices before ordering but IMHO any of the above are good to deal with
Tin

 

[chrisinestes]

Between Speedy, McMaster, and Online Metals, Speedy had the best over-all pricing.

Hobby Metal Kits had good pricing on a few of the things I'm after, but not enough to warrant separate shipping.

Boy, prices sure add up quick when you don't have a lot of metal in stock to pull from! The biggest single item cost is for the 4.5" cold-rolled round bar for the flywheel. Maybe I should go with cast iron round for the flywheel, It seems to be about half the coat of cold-rolled. Or maybe check ebay for some cool looking cast iron cart wheels... But that brings up other issues.

Are there any "secret" flywheel materials/methods out there?

Thanks!
Chris

 

[SmithDoor]

Nice list and good prices too

Dave

 

[Cogsy]

Are there any "secret" flywheel materials/methods out there?

I've heard, but not actually witnessed myself, that treadmill motors have a large chunk of cast iron as a flywheel, which is easy to machine. On junk collection weekends they can sometimes be had for free 'round here, don't know about your neck of the woods.

 

[Tin Falcon]

Cast iron is probably a better choice. Generally easy to machine good flywheel material.
the other option that would save a lot of machining time is go with a cast flywheel http://www.martinmodel.com/MMPflywheels-subfiles/FW045-6S-S-RG-XXXX-CI.html It will cost about $30 shipped but will save a lot of cutting.

if you do go with cold rolled 12l14 is the easiest steel to machine.
Tin

 

[MachineTom]

Check Ebay, folks like Speedy, and Online metals sell there. Often the best deals are drops, cut-offs. So sellers are manufactures of products selling the drops, those pieces are just above scrap, but selection is limited, and changes all the time. I often cruise the bronze materials and buy stuff without a need if the price is right.

Think about an inventory for future projects. Brass and Bronze machine about the same, but if hand work is needed, lots of filing, bronze is harder than brass, I prefer the color of bronze as it ages compared to brass. Bronze is much higher in Yield and Tensile strength than brass for most grades.

 

[portlandron]

If I read your posting correctly you were looking a "cold rolled" for the flywheel.

That may not be a good choice depending on how much machining you will be doing to it. Cold rolled has stresses it it from the rolling process. When you machine a piece these stresses can cause it to twist.

If you are going to use steel for the flywheel get hot rolled.

 

[chrisinestes]

I have scrounged flywheels off of NodicTrack skiers, a NordicTrack un-powered tread mill, and a couple exercise bikes, but they are all too big for this project. I do keep a look out for free or cheap stuff that may have flywheels.

I'll order a few flywheels from Martin Model... They're cheaper than I thought they'd be. I just tried to email my order info to Gary at Martin... It came back saying his mailbox is full. I'd hate to have to snail mail my order in in this day and age... Anybody have a different way to email him? Is he an active member here? I'm ready to give him money.

Thanks for the advice!
Chris

 

[chrisinestes]

All done... Turns out Gary has an issue with the email on his web site, so he called me and I'm all set... I've got 4 flywheels on the way.

I hope I don't screw 'em up!

Chris

 

[chrisinestes]

Looks like I missed a few posts somehow...

MachineTom: I'll start checking around for good prices on drops & the like. I'm thinking about future projects as well, I'm buying extra of everything This particular engine requires, along with other sizes I figure I'll need in the future. Being a new "machinist", I'm sure I'll turn plenty of parts into scrap.

portlandron: The plan set indicates cold-rolled for the flywheel. Being new, I didn't realize cold-rolled could move around on you. I notice Speedy has 1018 cold-rolled in a stress relieved version... would that likely stay straight? I'll get some hot-rolled stuff to play with, too.

After advice, and further reading, it seems cast iron rod is the way to go for flywheels for me, for now anyway.

I found some of the steel I wanted at good prices at my "local" metal store. It's a hour away, so I try to have several errands to run so I don't go down for just one stop. I'll place my Speedy order on Monday.

Chris

 

[portlandron]

Chris the cold rolled stress relieved would be better. The only reason I could see to be using any cold rolled is to save time on machining because you have a nice surface finish to start with.

After machining it to size and a little finish polishing hot rolled will look the same and be cheaper.

 

[ShopShoe]

Slight OT - Precast Wheels and Cast Iron

FYI - LittleMachineShop sells the Martin Flywheels

ENCO has a 1-in. thick piece of 6-in. round gray iron.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INLMKD&PMPXNO=5810919&PMAKA=325-4553

I ordered one of those and found it pretty good to machine.

--ShopShoe

 

[Trialnterror]

The 25% off this weekend and free shipping makes for ordering this cast iron from enco attractive! Codes for Memorial Day 2016 DS531 and FF531

Slight OT - Precast Wheels and Cast Iron

FYI - LittleMachineShop sells the Martin Flywheels

ENCO has a 1-in. thick piece of 6-in. round gray iron.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INLMKD&PMPXNO=5810919&PMAKA=325-4553

I ordered one of those and found it pretty good to machine.

--ShopShoe

 

[mcostello]

Discount Steel has good prices. Not related etc.etc.

 

[vederstein]

I've had some decent luck scouring ebay for materials. There's lots of small business that sell on ebay. Sometimes it's a scrap piece or a drop. One time I purchased a 24" piece of 360 brass, 1-1/2" x 2". I paid $100 for it. I checked the same material on the bigger suppliers and the same material was about $200.

...Ved.