[TheForge] looking for"real" bronze

[Ries Niemi]

Although on many subjects James has forgotten more than I will ever know, I have to humbly disagree about the "best" forging alloy of bronze.

I have forged a thousand pounds or so, each, of both Silicon Bronze (C655) and Naval Bronze (C464) as well as a bit of Architectural- and I would rate both above Architectural in terms of forge-a-bility. And my friend Phillip assures me that aluminum bronzes forge nicely as well. 

However, since the OP was looking for sheet, I am guessing forging is not the primary concern.


ries





On Feb 17, 2013, at 6:11 PM, James Binnion wrote:

> Historically bronze was a copper tin alloy but also had lots of other things in it as well due to less the materials and processes available. Today a copper alloy that does not have zinc or nickel as the second significant metal in the alloy is a bronze.
> 
> The closest thing you can buy to that real bronze is what is called phosphor bronze it is 94.8% copper, 5% tin and a tiny amount .2% of phosphorous to deoxidize the metal. The trade number for this material is C5100 or C510. The stuff is tough to work and not a good choice for hot working, in fact no copper tin alloy will be a good hot work alloy.
> 
> The best forging alloy is called Architectural Bronze (C3850) which is actually a brass as it has zinc as the second greatest metal in the alloy after copper. 57% Cu, 40% Zn, 3% Pb just don't weld it as the lead makes it a poor choice for welding both from a health and performance aspect.
> 
> A reasonable compromise alloy is Commercial Bronze (C2200) which has reasonably good hot work properties and can be TIG welded but it is again a brass called bronze at 90% Cu, 10% Zn
> 
> 
> 
> James Binnion
> jbin at well.com
> 
> 
> 
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