Good information in the responses.

Be careful of the rake on your tooling. Brass tends to be very
"grabby" and will tend to pull the tool in. Light / old lathes
thend to have a lot of backlash and flex in the feeds which
amplifies the problem. Manual with our Emco 10X24 suggests 5 to
8 degrees clearance and 0 degree rake for brass. Unless you are
using leaded brass, long stringy chips may be a problem. Keep a
chip hook and / or long needle nose pliers handy.

GmcD



On 17 Aug 2005 19:53:45 GMT, Dave Hinz
wrote:

I've been asked to make some decorative turnings out of brass. Can
someone point me to a FAQ or give me suggestions as to type of cutting
tools to use, fluids for a nice visually appealing surface, and cutting
angles? These will eventually be polished; I assume doing that while
it's on the lathe is easiest?

Also, for a brass door handle, should I coat it with something to try to
keep it bright, or just set their expectations that it will develop a
patina over time, or is there a way to get a bronze-ish patina started?
Not going for the green verdigris look, just maybe an antique-brass-
without-paint-airbrush look. If "wait" is the best technique, that's
fine, though.

Any suggestions are most welcome. I assume I have to turn with the
speed fairly high and to take light cuts, but I've never done this sort
of thing in brass before.

Thanks,
Dave Hinz