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I recently came into possession of a decent quantity of brass bullet casings of a few different sizes. I know brass isn't cheap, so I figured "gee, I wonder what I could make out of these in the forge?" Of course, brass isn't the easiest thing to work with, and from my 5 minutes of googling it's not an easy (or even safe, necessarily) thing to just melt down, especially bullet casing brass. So, any suggestions on what to do with it for knife use? Anyone done anything decorative with such things before? Is it easier to melt than I thought? Is this just a stupid idea and I should send them to be properly recycled elsewhere? (I give it 50/50 odds on the latter.) (I've no idea what the right topic is for this thread; Mods, feel free to move elsewhere if I guessed wrong.)

I got a first commission from a friend of mine, he wants and Irish scian im doing lots of research but to little avail. One of the things i want to do on this is to use a little bit of brass. I was thinking about using a 3 pound brass hammer from a hardware store but ive never worked with it before so i have some questions. 1 being how will this behave when forged do i need my gas forge set to lower temps does it move easy or tough. 2 would that cheap brass hammer be any good or is it a poor quality alloy. And 3 would it be better to just buy brass stock or sheets. if it is ok to forge the brass hammer down what are some pointers and any points in any better easier directions that might save me some headache?

SAM_6068 by djs1984, on Flickr SAM_6069 by djs1984, on Flickr SAM_6070 by djs1984, on Flickr SAM_6072 by djs1984, on Flickr SAM_6075 by djs1984, on Flickr SAM_6078 by djs1984, on Flickr This Knife is one of our first two narrow tang knives, this is our first attempt at a blind tang. We used 1095, Cocobolo Handle and brass for the guard and 3/16 pin. This knife was clay coated and differentially heat treated. A high polish, and Acid etched to give it a more rust Resistant finish, and bring out the Nice activity in the hamon. ---------------------------------Knife Details----------------------------------- Overall Length: 9 5/16" Blade Length: 4 1/2" Blade Width: @ widest approx. 1" Thickness: 1/8" Handle Length: 4 5/8" Handle Material: Cocobolo, Brass Guard, 3/16 pin Includes sheath pictured. Just nice and clean, simple wrap sheath, black dye, sealed. hand stitched, belt loop fits up to a 2" belt. Asking $385 includes FEDEX shipping with insurance/tracking Questions/Comments always welcome. Thanks for looking!