About Brass

Brass is an alloy made by melting copper, zinc and sometimes other metals together. The main difference between red brass and yellow brass is the amount of copper used. Red brass closely resembles the reddish color of copper because it contains a larger percentage of the metal, up to 95 percent, while yellow brass generally has more zinc and less than 70 percent copper. Brass alloys may also contain small amounts of iron, lead, manganese, nickel, and/or tin.

Common brass alloys are:

red brass: 90-95 percent copper/5-10 percent zinc
yellow brass: 70 percent copper/30 percent zinc
nickel silver (German silver): 60 percent copper/25 percent zinc/15 percent nickel.

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