Can you overheat brass and cause it to lose it's strength/heat treat?

[SwissHeritageCo]

Figured you wizards of alchemy would know the answer to this... I'm specifically referring to solid brass chicago screws and solid brass rivets.

I've got a bunch of shiny brass chicago screws and rivets which I've been refinishing to matte by turning them at high speeds on abrasives. High enough to make them hot, too hot to touch at times but not crazy hot if that makes sense. Can this affect the integrity of their strength? These are being used in leather work and some will indeed be load bearing. Ideally, I would like to be able to refinish them all in one go without pausing to let them cool down because it's a time consuming process for a single piece of hardware.

Do I have to be gentle with these things or can you safely get them pretty hot without having to worry too much about spoiling their strength? I have looked it up and received varying answers, but I also have no idea what temperature I'm bringing them to

Any helpful info would be greatly appreciated!

 

[elasmonut]

Getting brass hot!, even glowing and quench. Has similar result as annealing steel. Brass work hardens, but heat and quench , reverses the work hardening.

 

[RayseM]

I wonder if you could take the shine off by simply lining them up and heating with a torch. OR slightly change the color to more subdued with brass acid. I love brass acid but the results are inconsistent. It creates art.

As for your question. Torque one or 2 and see how much they can tolerate before breaking. You might want to do a test on a few, before and after heating, for a good reference. For sheath work I can't imagine you are compromising them.

 

[navasky]

If you're not getting them "crazy hot" then you're not getting them hot enough to anneal, it shouldn't effect the strength.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Unless they start to glow while sanding them down you are work hardening them and that is not a problem. You have to go above 1000°F to start to anneal. Even if you did anneal them, they would be fine.

 

[Horsewright]

They make antique brass Chicago screws. If you are looking for a brushed finish certainly a red Scotchbrite belt would get er done without too much heat I would think. Found a pic of an antique brass Chaicago screw. Here on this purse holding the ear tag brand patch on:

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

Exactly what I needed to know, thanks guys I intend to complete one in a single sitting without cool down breaks and do some stress tests afterward.

They do get "will burn you" hot pretty quickly, but by the sound of it they'll be just fine.

Horsewright I've never been an aged brass fan myself, it's definitely the brushed finish I'm out to achieve. I'm using 320grit sandpaper.

It's a pain but worth it for that extra little touch.

 

[Horsewright]

Exactly what I needed to know, thanks guys I intend to complete one in a single sitting without cool down breaks and do some stress tests afterward.

They do get "will burn you" hot pretty quickly, but by the sound of it they'll be just fine.

Horsewright I've never been an aged brass fan myself, it's definitely the brushed finish I'm out to achieve. I'm using 320grit sandpaper.

It's a pain but worth it for that extra little touch.

Gotcha. Try that Scotchbrite if ya can Ithink that would get er done for ya in one fell swoop as it is soft enough to probably do the whole domed head of the screw at one time instead of having to make multiple passes with paper.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

So coming back to this... I had a solid brass rivet chip on me today. Granted, I haven't used them a lot so I'm not sure if this is commonplace or not.

(chip at the botom of the peen)


For reference, this is the backside after turning them,



Am I making them too hard by over-heating them? I'm using wet sandpaper with water puddled on top while I turn the rivets and the sand paper itself is on top of a cold wet rag. Really like the finish of the turned rivets vs how they come factory but perhaps I'm inadvertently distempering them

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Lets do this again- You can't make brass hard by heating it. You can only make it softer.
Brass will work-harden, and that's probably what happened on that rather large head.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

Lets do this again- You can't make brass hard by heating it. You can only make it softer.
Brass will work-harden, and that's probably what happened on that rather large head.

I appreciate the clarification

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

if you are turning them, I would suggest annealing after they are done. If not they will be very work hardened and brittle. Heat to 700-800°F and drop in a pan of water. They will be dead soft.