Brass and Copper

Can someone here explain to me how to positively identify brass from copper.

i've got alot of both. It is all tarnished and I am partially colorblind, so I need some advice.

Brass is hard and yellow. Copper is softer and reddish.

Send me some, that craps worth quite a bit of cash. You stole it from a construction site didn't you. :naughty:

Send me some, that craps worth quite a bit of cash. You stole it from a construction site didn't you. :naughty:

:lol: I was thinking the same thing!

it's called specialist reclamation.

measure the specific gravity of the sample with water. link here: http://www.simetric.co.uk/si_metals.htm

and be sure to check the "Metals Market" link on that page to be sure you're getting a fair price.

do you guys have the same problem where you live, with people stealing power lines and selling it? (atlease i think power lines are made out of copper)

they're made from copper with steel around it. the copper has low resistance but little tensile strength, so the steel holds the weight of the cabling.

we have people coming onto buidling sites and stealing things we've taken off buildings and stacked nicely in the corner and this includes everything from wooden floorboards to fireplaces down to the humble brick.

I lost about £2000 worth of original london stock bricks before christmas.

we have people coming onto buidling sites and stealing things we've taken off buildings and stacked nicely in the corner and this includes everything from wooden floorboards to fireplaces down to the humble brick.

I lost about £2000 worth of original london stock bricks before christmas.

Its sad people will steal anything. I deliver glass for a living and we have a few shops that we have to wait until they open to deliver to. Usually I can stack the glass out back behind their warehouse but at a few of these places they've had the glass stolen or broken too many times.

to be fair, the owner of the house didn't want it and the polish builders I was using on the project didn't know the bricks had value so they didn't want them, so in that case I was doing the initial bit of reclaiming (legitimately).
It's just that someone else reclaimed them off me over a weekend when no one was on site.
The builders were more upset than I was, as I made them clean up the bricks carefully as they took them down.
And I can't say I've not rescued the odd bit of buidling site "scrap" for my own use.
There was a very nice piano I was offered from an old hotel I could've had but well, it doesn't fit in my car.

There was a very nice piano I was offered from an old hotel I could've had but well, it doesn't fit in my car.


Oh, just strap it on the roof. :icon16: