Pros and cons to using Brass Hardware?

[banditom]

black fasterners on MNS

Hi,
I have an MNS, and most of the fasteners are black, some gray. I believe all of my fasteners are also stock for that bike, so mns fasteners wont help much. I personally have removed some of my mns fasteners , since they do rust a bit, and use SS, and use black spray paint on the heads of them. My B12 uses polished SS fasteners with a black painted engine, and it looks great.

That's probably the best solution, but I'm guessing paint is not what you're looking for

You could gold anodise, but that would be spendy

Maybe get some bolts of a Midnight Special - didn't they use gold fasteners?

[atb1998]

Brass corrodes before steel? I have to question the reasoning behind this. the British, US, French, Dutch navies and many merchant marines fleets have been using brass bolts, hardware on most exterior, interior doors, gunnery parts, for over a century.. Many of the older deck guns used brass for their breech locks due to their resistance tos alt and corrosioin. Not to mention, porthole hardware, even clocks, binoculars, compasses. Depending on the alloy mixture brass can be very stong and would use it WAAY before any sort of average aluminum bolt. even though there are over 1700 grades of aluminum from very soft to VERY hard. The key word above was average..Brass is alloy mix of copper and steel, it will NOT react badly with steel and will NOT react badly with copper. It has the corrosion resistance of copper and somewhat the strength of steel and has been used in the boiler, plumbing industry as a standard for well over a hundred years. I have seen toilet flush valves, biller drain well over 50 yrs old still function being made of brass. Any bolier tech, plumber will tell you this as well as pipe fitter, ship fitter or naval hull tech will tell you. I have personally seen steel pipe less than 20yrs old fall apart from corrosion. I can't say the same for brass, yes it does corrode, but a LOT more slowly. Go to any pluming shop and ask for a steel valve , they will laugh at you. All quality valves are made of brass.. You tell me why.. I would not hesitate tyo use brass for a fastener in a non structural critical area on any car or bike. By the way i am a master, pipe fitter and master plumber with a journeyman in boiler operation over 28 yrs in the trades. .

[themess]

Brass corrodes before steel? I have to question the reasoning behind this. the British, US, French, Dutch navies and many merchant marines fleets have been using brass bolts, hardware on most exterior, interior doors, gunnery parts, for over a century.. Many of the older deck guns used brass for their breech locks due to their resistance tos alt and corrosioin. Not to mention, porthole hardware, even clocks, binoculars, compasses. Depending on the alloy mixture brass can be very stong and would use it WAAY before any sort of average aluminum bolt. even though there are over 1700 grades of aluminum from very soft to VERY hard. The key word above was average..Brass is alloy mix of copper and steel, it will NOT react badly with steel and will NOT react badly with copper. It has the corrosion resistance of copper and somewhat the strength of steel and has been used in the boiler, plumbing industry as a standard for well over a hundred years. I have seen toilet flush valves, biller drain well over 50 yrs old still function being made of brass. Any bolier tech, plumber will tell you this as well as pipe fitter, ship fitter or naval hull tech will tell you. I have personally seen steel pipe less than 20yrs old fall apart from corrosion. I can't say the same for brass, yes it does corrode, but a LOT more slowly. Go to any pluming shop and ask for a steel valve , they will laugh at you. All quality valves are made of brass.. You tell me why.. I would not hesitate tyo use brass for a fastener in a non structural critical area on any car or bike. By the way i am a master, pipe fitter and master plumber with a journeyman in boiler operation over 28 yrs in the trades. .

Thanks for the information! I guess that I've seen enough surface corrosion on brass faucets to be wary. But I don't know the composition of those faucets.

I've used brass fasteners for carpentry, and have found them to be terribly weak and soft. Where does one get good brass fasteners?

A link about brass corrosion: http://www.hghouston.com/coppers/bra...ic%20corrosion

[atb1998]

..Like i stated above steel, aluminum or any other metals, brass comes in various hardness. Plumbing grade brass and marine grade brass are for function.. Big difference between carpentry grade which usually is pure decorative or at the most may be used for door hinges. Brass will tarnish quickly, but not corrode. there is a difference. Steel will quickly rust, but takes a bit longer to pit. I never said brass wouldn't TARNISH, their is a difference between tarnish and corrosin. One can get good marine grade fasteners through marine suppliers or a faucet, boiler, pump parts suppliers. Saturday i rebuilt a 60 year old PricePfister tub/ shower faucet built into a customers bathroom wall. Solid brass body, solid brass removable seats and stems. It all came apart fairly easily. put new brass seats back in it. Rebuilt the brass stems. No problems at all with bolts stripping, seats were pitted, but the man said it hadn't been wrked on since th 80's.

[afholderman]

...Brass is alloy mix of copper and steel..

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, with tin and other soft metals added as well to adjust the properties.

[atb1998]

I meant to type zinc instead of steel.. Brain lapse

[themess]

..Like i stated above steel, aluminum or any other metals, brass comes in various hardness. Plumbing grade brass and marine grade brass are for function.. Big difference between carpentry grade which usually is pure decorative or at the most may be used for door hinges. Brass will tarnish quickly, but not corrode. there is a difference. Steel will quickly rust, but takes a bit longer to pit. I never said brass wouldn't TARNISH, their is a difference between tarnish and corrosin. One can get good marine grade fasteners through marine suppliers or a faucet, boiler, pump parts suppliers. Saturday i rebuilt a 60 year old PricePfister tub/ shower faucet built into a customers bathroom wall. Solid brass body, solid brass removable seats and stems. It all came apart fairly easily. put new brass seats back in it. Rebuilt the brass stems. No problems at all with bolts stripping, seats were pitted, but the man said it hadn't been wrked on since th 80's.

Thanks for all the information.

[bwringer]

Just to throw another oddity into this mix, I remember reading that all the fasteners on the iconic Honda 250 six-cylinder were plated in copper.

No one nowadays has any idea why.

But it sure looked cool.