Technical custom brass trim

Anybody know what grade of br*** is used to fabricate custom trim? getting ready to fabricate custom side molding for my 37 . never done it before so any info would help.

 

What ever your local supplier has will be good. You don't have any reason to use any high tech specialty alloy. It's expensive enough, just get what you can afford.

 

Thanks Redo32, any pointers on heating and bending?

 

Shouldn't have to heat it unless your doing sharp 90' angles. What car are you working on? Just doing the side trim? It's nice to have trim thick enough to drill & tap for mounting studs.

 

If you have to bend it sharp just watch your heat to not bubble it. Easy to shape and form, and looks damn good chromed..

 

Slddnmatt, do you use round bar or rectangular bar on the mercs?

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Redo32, I am doing a 37 ford sedan and plan on using half round to fabricate side molding starting at the front of the car and running to the rear quarters. I also have to make new window side trim to accommodate the the laid back windshield and chop and door post removal.Do you think the half round will bend on the width end without heat? I have to make a mild radius on the quarter panels.

 

Use yellow br***, not red.

 

Steve, can you say why?

I don't have any depth of personal knowledge; but when I recently made a mirror arm bracket mold and had it cast, the folks guiding me through the process recommended using red br*** if I was plating the pieces. Red apparently has more copper and is softer than yellow br***. It is not as strong, but more ductile (bendable) than the yellow. I am finding that the red br*** castings are quite workable as I add detail that I could not put into the casting mold.

Any detailed thoughts on the benefits of one over the other would be appreciated.

 

Btt.
Anyone have more thoughts on using yellow versus red br*** for casting and shaping custom pieces?

 

if heated red hot and quenched in cold water it will get an annealed state that makes it easy to bend and shape...

 

Since you would have to chrome the br*** which is expensive, wouldn't you consider making it out of stainless? You can cut and weld stainless then polish it up to a bright finish without having to go through getting it plated.

 

The advantage to br*** is you can work it with wood working tools so you can use things like round over bits in routers to speed the shaping. The use of tools like that also ensure that the profiles are consistent through the length of the trim piece. Unless you have a mill shaping stainless would be grinding and sanding which is a lot more work and far less accurate.