Brass sheet metal

Brass is valued for its warm colour and its workability. We process brass for interior fit-out, art objects and decorative technical components, with care for preserving its natural lustre.

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The ratio determines its behaviour: more zinc makes the material stronger and easier to form, more copper gives a warmer, redder colour. For sheet metal work a readily formable grade is usually chosen, so that the material does not crack during press braking.

Where brass stands out is its appearance. The surface has a warm, yellow lustre that no coating on stainless steel can match. That makes it attractive for visible work in interiors, for art objects and for decorative technical parts — but it also makes the surface the most vulnerable part of the product.

Brass discolours over time. In contact with air and moisture a darker patina forms, first yellow-brown and later brown to greenish. For some applications that is exactly what is wanted; for others it is not. If you want to keep the lustre, a protective lacquer is needed — or you have to allow for periodic polishing. Tell us which of the two you want, because it determines the finishing.

In processing, brass mainly calls for care of the surface. It is softer than stainless steel and steel and therefore scratches more easily: we keep protective film on the material up to and including the last operation, work with clean tooling and keep brass separate from steel to prevent iron contamination. When press braking we take the rolling direction into account, because a bend across the grain is more likely to crack.

Which cutting method suits your brass part best we determine per request: the reflectivity and thermal conductivity of copper alloys make brass harder to cut than steel or stainless steel. Send your drawing with the sheet thickness, the required brass grade and the surface requirement; we will indicate what is feasible and which route we choose for it.

Brass combines well with other materials. If you are looking for corrosion-resistant visible work without the warm colour, ground stainless steel is often the logical choice; if low weight is decisive, aluminium comes into play. We process all three, so the material choice need not be dictated by the supplier.

Materials: Brass (copper-zinc alloy)