You guys with experience working naval brass fill me in?

DMSentra said:

Looking for an alternative to 316 SS for the marine parts I'm making to hold a couple delrin parts together. I believe strength wouldn't be an issue, mostly a material cost vs manufacturing cost is what I'm considering. From what I understand 464 grade is the marine grade choice, and that is also known as naval brass?
Is 464 brass friendly enough to machine and tap including saving on the extra tooling costs of 316ss, that it could offset whatever material cost there is?
This part is a 1" long, 2" round, with a .5" long 1.5" dia step on the other end. Simple part.

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Ries said:

I have used it over the years- I have forged it a fair amount, machined it, and welded it. Its nice for all of those processes.
Not as forgiving to forge as silcon bronze is, but totally do-able.
Clean and neat to machine, and easy to finish nicely. I have mostly milled it, and done some tapping. Using manual machine tools, I found it much more friendly than 300 series stainless.
And it tig welds well with a silicon bronze filler rod.

But- its definitely softer than stainless. Will wear and abrade more easily.
Its only available in a few shapes.
I once needed 3/4" square, and found ONE stocking supplier in the US at that time.
And its not cheap.

Probably double stainless, more if its an oddball size or shape.
2" round shouldnt be too bad, though.

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