I wonder if accidentally making brass was one of the ancient starting legends that would lead to alchemists trying to make gold.

@SonsOfLorgar

Жыл бұрын

Very plausible speculation

@markisthegreat3432

Жыл бұрын

It's more viewed now that the whole alchemy thing wasn't in a literal sense it was metaphorical. Read about Carl Jung and his book on alchemy

@NoobNoobNews

Жыл бұрын

Well, Alchemy was just pre-modern chemistry. Modern nuclear chemistry figured out how to manufacture gold from mercury and lead. So, while I do not know if brass started the search for manufacturing gold from other things; I do know the search, in the end, was a worthwhile one.

@lordgarion514

Жыл бұрын

@@markisthegreat3432 No,.it was quite literal. Quite a few respected "scientists" from the time kept detailed notes on their attempts. But remember, alchemy is in fact a real thing. We've been doing it since 1980 on purpose, and the early 70's by accident. We now call the scientific field particle physics, but it's the same thing, and we can make a LOT of things from other things now. The problem now isn't that we can't do it, it's that it costs a literal fortune to do it. Antimatter is the worst, and it costs $62 trillion per gram to make. For perspective, it would take basically every penny that every American made for 3 years, to make a single gram. The problem they had was a lack of energy. Oh, and even though they didn't have the technology to transmute lead into gold, they did figure out a LOT of physics, and in fact, modern physics is based on what they learned.

@jaratt85

Жыл бұрын

It actually is, that and if you put lead into a bone ash crucible and heated it until all the lead was gone you'd sometimes end up with a bead of gold if there had happened to be an amount of gold in the lead/galena. Lead is still often used as a collector metal when smelting gold.

Brass has an excellent property later on as a non-sparking metal. When dealing with certain powders it's nice to know there is less of a chance of an accidental spark.

Brass is very good at sea. Very resistant to corrosion. The brass bushings in my sailboat's rudder axle are still going strong, 37 years on.

@ilham7345

Жыл бұрын

Holy manure, 37?

@humanafterall2076

Жыл бұрын

Highly likely bronze. The zinc in brass makes it almost useless below the waterline. My boat is bronze fastened wooden 46ft cutter over 100 years old. I won’t have brass anywhere on board. Bronze yes. Unfortunately it’s difficult to tell the difference between some bronze and brass fittings. If yours was brass it would have dissolved over 30 years ago. Sorry

@Shaker626

Жыл бұрын

​@@humanafterall2076 Admiralty and naval brasses could definitely withstand salt water for that period of time.

@humanafterall2076

Жыл бұрын

@@Shaker626 these still have a zinc content. They will stand up to the salt air environment but definitely not constant immersion.

@Shaker626

Жыл бұрын

@@humanafterall2076 The reduction of Zn in those brasses, along with the addition of Sn and As reduces the dezincification inherent to brasses. Maybe they won't last 100 years like a bronze part, but they could push 30.

Bronze makes better, longer lasting bearings, but brass is a perfectly acceptable alternative. And yes, it’s easier to cast and clearly you’re looking for a good demo application for your new alloy. So really looking forward to seeing you make that progress 😃

@davidmcgill1000

Жыл бұрын

Would imagine zinc is more common than tin as well.

@eve_squared

Жыл бұрын

@@davidmcgill1000 zinc is hard to extract due to it's low boiling point and high toxicity.

@Volt64bolt

Жыл бұрын

Wouldn’t they be bushings.

@entropy1454

Жыл бұрын

@@Volt64bolt Bushings are a type of bearing.

@Volt64bolt

Жыл бұрын

@@entropy1454 oh ok, my bad. I thought bearings specifically referred to ball bearings where there are multiple moving parts inside, and a bushing is just a low friction slow wearing sleeve

I know it's been a while but the new workshop as a backdrop looks fantastic.

@iglikagencheva593

Жыл бұрын

It is really cool

Brass is an awsome material to work with and it has excelent corrosion resistance. It's resonably strong so for most things it's prenty strong enough. The only reason it isn't everywhere today is that it's kind of expensive compared to aluminium and steel.

@Ensensu2

Жыл бұрын

Does aluminum have comparable corrosion resistance to brass?

@skylerlehmkuhl135

Жыл бұрын

@@Ensensu2 Sort of. Aluminum "corrodes" instantly on contact with air by forming a thin layer of aluminum oxide; unlike rust, this layer is not porous so nothing further happens, so in air they are about equal. In seawater, however, aluminum is prone to corroding if another metal is present, while brass and bronze are not, making aluminum the worse choice there.

@jakobrosenqvist4691

Жыл бұрын

@@Ensensu2 And aluminium parts tend to wear down quickly under abration, and they also tend to get stuck to eachother, that's why you rarely see things like lock mechanisms, sliders or such being made from aluminium. If you are going to make something that doesn't require moving parts like say a boat hull or railing then it's an excelent option.

@lordgarion514

Жыл бұрын

@@skylerlehmkuhl135 Well, every metal, even stainless steel, more or less instantly corrodes when it comes in contact with oxygen. If they didn't, cold welding would be a serious problem. Cold welding almost killed a few astronauts when it stopped them from closing their hatch after a spacewalk back in 1965.

@absalomdraconis

Жыл бұрын

​@@lordgarion514 : As I recall, the "cold welding in space" thing was debunked. It might have been a contributing factor, but the problem was primarily caused by something else. As for most metals instantly corroding, that's an overstatement. As mentioned already, iron rust (or at least the "default" one) doesn't form a barrier to air, so if iron "instantly" corroded then there would have been almost no iron alloy tools until the development of stainless steel, due to minor scratches damaging any protective patina (some forms of iron rust don't flake, but they form under different conditions), and thus begining the process of their own quick destruction. The reason iron tools were possible for e.g. swords for so long is because iron doesn't actually oxidize very quickly. Stainless steel _does_ corrode quickly, but that's for the same reason as aluminum: it contains some highly reactive metals as part of it's alloy, and these form a protective coating.

Bearings for your lathe could also be cast in place from babbitt metal, an alloy of lead and tin (sometimes with traces of antimony and arsenic), coincidentally it's roughly the same composition as ordinary 60/40 lead/tin solder. The melting point of this alloy is also low enough that it will most likely brown (but not burn/char) the timber that the molten babbitt is poured into.

@75blackviking

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for that info. I work around a fair amount of babbitt bearings and had no idea it was basically 60/40 solder.

@SchoolforHackers

Жыл бұрын

And I had no idea it could be cast in place. Brilliant.

@Preyhawk81

Жыл бұрын

isnt the lead to soft for bearings?

@fenderAnarchist

Жыл бұрын

​@@Preyhawk81 You want your bearing surface made of softer material, so the cheap serviceable bearing wears out and not the expensive complex machine part. Babbitt is still used as the wear surface of engine main and rod bearings to this day. At higher speeds you need fast-flowing oil to help the bearing clean and cool, but even the higher speed pulley lathe would probably work fine with thicker lube, at least for a while. something like tallow seems like an ideal ancient-tech solution. hell, given the choice between the two, I'd probably try lube on just the plain wood before going to the trouble of casting a bearing (and making a shaft precise enough to fit in it nicely!). even with the relatively crude smithed iron shafts they're working with, lubrication would make a BIG difference and help the wood last longer.

@justin1730

7 ай бұрын

I doubt the shaft will be straight, rigid, or polished enough for such a soft bearing material. It will likely chew it right up.

Just remember gaseous Zinc is real nasty stuff and can give you metal fume fever which is not pleasant. With your setup it should be reasonably safe but don't do it indoors!

The brass bearing described at the end of the video are called Bushings. It's a thing still used in heavy duty tool machinery even today. Bearings didn't become the preferred option until fairly recently (like within the last 50 years). Old Vintage tools often use bushings for heavy wear parts, simply because it was easier to source and use than bearings.

It's been awesome seeing more uploads, We're all thankful you didnt give up!

Brass was very important material in the industrial revolution for applications like bearings of steam engines

@samstewart4444

Жыл бұрын

A had a machinist tell me that brass can be worked to tighter tolerances by an order of magnitude, i.e. fractions of a mil.

As someone who works with antiques, brass and bronze constantly cause issues with identification and classification - to the point where "yellow metal" or simply copper-alloy is used when describing most antiques with copper alloy components that havent been analysed yet. very important alloy historically.

If you want to make bearings and you have zinc, babbit metal is your friend. The process of casting a babbit bearing is also interesting, though the discovery of this relatively simple process dates from the mid 19th C.

@lewisgiles8855

Жыл бұрын

Babbit composition?

@VikOlliver

Жыл бұрын

@@lewisgiles8855 well there you open a can of worms. The one we're supposed to use nowadays is 90% Sn, 7% Zn, 3% Cu but that's not technically babbitt. The real deal is 89% Sn, 1% Pb, 3% Cu and 7% Antimony but there are many, many others.

@lewisgiles8855

Жыл бұрын

Thank you I've been casting metal in my backyard for a few years I'm always looking for new alloys that I'm capable of making, I love iron bronze with such a rich color

It seems like you're reaching the point where precision becomes increasingly important. Roundness and flatness are both unspeakably important for anything with moving parts. The wheel and axel and pulley are both massively improved by a mastery over these two things.

I can’t tell if you use respirators, but if you haven’t, please do so. Zinc out cash is really easy compared to the other minerals. No one needs to breathe in that heavy metal.

@xlerb2286

Жыл бұрын

Agreed. Years ago I did some brass / bronze casting. Even with the careful temperature control allowed by modern equipment you could see wisps of that blue/white smoke exiting the blast furnace that was zinc being burned off. We always ran under a hood. Being outdoors helps of course, but "belt and suspenders" as we used to say :)

kinda funny how a tech that peaked in the 500's, got replaced and forgotten, would become essential 1500 years later. Tech history is so weird and fascinating i love it. Thank you so much for doing this series, it really has been an absolute treat to watch you rediscover our species' ancestors' innovations.

As a student who has just stepped into the realm of chemistry (Not even seen it, in it's entirety yet), this is quite interesting to me. I have just learned about alloying and alloys like Brass, Bronze, Stainless Steel, etc. Though I prefer Physics, Chemistry has been one of my many subjects that I wish to learn more about as interest rather then for exams or studies. Nothing I can do to avoid it, as I just got to know, so I'm quite looking forward to it.

@sortagoodish8491

Жыл бұрын

Alloys are really more of a metallurgy thing than a chemistry thing, aren't they?

@Arcticanine

Жыл бұрын

@@sortagoodish8491 I'm not sure if there's a subject by the name of Metallurgy later on but right now I'm only aware about Chemistry.

@knuckle12356

Жыл бұрын

​@@sortagoodish8491 I mean, combining different elemental metals together to achieve lowered melting points, or higher overall casting viscosity, changes in color, reactivity of constituent pieces vs the alloy itself....These are all chemical changes, not just physical. So I could see some early chemistry courses - 100s level prereqs that satisfy multiple paths for different majors, approaching metallurgy from a chemistry perspective. Something to help possible NON chemistry majors to learn basic chemistry concepts. Using things you can see, and experiment with, (and BURNINATE) but not have to supervise use of volatile chemicals in a survey course. I'm just throwing spaghetti and seeing what sticks.... [shrug] 🤷🏼‍♂️

@chemistryofquestionablequa6252

Жыл бұрын

Chemistry is physics in action

@Arcticanine

Жыл бұрын

@@chemistryofquestionablequa6252 Physics is vastly different then Chemistry, it deals with understanding the natural properties of either naturally occurring or man-made substances that have an effect on our environment and us. Chemistry deals with combining two elements to form a covalent compound, ionic compound, alloy, etc., or to break that compound into it's original elements via chemical reactions.

Glad to see new content. I missed seeing all the updates back before the pandemic.

Yesss! Bras is my favorite metal, i make everything out of brass, even my phone case is made of tarnished brass!

@evelyncarr6421

Жыл бұрын

Yo, do you post your stuff somewhere? Would be cool to see :)

I absolutely love your project. It's actually the dream I've had since childhood: starting from the stone age and working my way up to the modern age. Good to see you guys making progress.

7:10 Celtic is pronounced with a hard c. The soft c refers to the sports team.

@kamardbob

Жыл бұрын

Came here to say this.

@Justmebeingme37

Жыл бұрын

I suppose someone always has to be that person to complain about ignorant things. Who are you to tell people how to pronounce words you didn't invent?

@kamardbob

Жыл бұрын

@@Justmebeingme37 I think knowing how to pronounce words isn't ignorant, friend.

@Stormageddon571

Жыл бұрын

@@Justmebeingme37 check a dictionary. Words have specific pronunciations. Plus, that error is a really big pet peeve of mine.

Somehow I feel this new metal will be very important for your future work... ;) Thank you for another amazing video!

Having made various brass alloys in my metal furnace (Nordic gold being a personal favorite), be careful when melting zinc into copper. Zinc's melting point is lower, so if you're melting them together, some of the zinc will boil off and you get a shower of sparks and a big poof of smoke you do not want to breathe.

lets go. always psyched for a new htme video.

I LOVE this channel. Practical, entertaining, informative. At some point I think everyone should learn how to make at least one given material from scratch.

Brass is such an underrated alloy! It has so many amazing properties and is wonderful to work with! 👍

KZread suggested your video. I liked it very much and subscribed. Thank you, very interesting.

I wonder if some early alchemists thought they successfully turned copper into gold when they performed this process? LOL.

@garethbaus5471

Жыл бұрын

The hardness is a bit high and the weight is a bit low, so the alchemists that thought that probably weren't very good.

@absalomdraconis

Жыл бұрын

​@@garethbaus5471 : Further, I'm not certain that alchemy existed when brass was first created. I think that alchemy only goes back to the middle ages, while brass in some forms goes back to the bronze age.

@nicholashodges201

6 ай бұрын

​@@absalomdraconisalchemy dates back at least to the early iron age Greeks and Egyptians. There's hints that it might have been a thing in bronze age Mesopotamia

Brass is probably one of my favorite alloys besides super alloys like inconel

couple people mentioned already for different bushing, but a lead/tin babbit material has historically been the go to for bushing that wear do to cost and ease to reset them with just a torch and a ladle to melt the metal in and pour it into the worn out bushing. brass would work and be less toxic but bronze would be the real winner on that and is the common bushing now.

Nice leverage into the in video ad. Looking forward to your videos on magnesium, potassium and calcium.

Exploring and testing other simple alloys used by the Romans and many other cultures might make for a good video I hope comes some day. Billon for coins, pewter for household items and other such base alloys that have been used for centuries after as well

You have one of the best metals for cooking pots now!

Gem quality sphalerite is gorgeous - I've used it, it's brilliance when cut right is close to diamond - however it's relatively soft, so you only want to use it in pendants and earrings.

Hello, I am a big fun of your show. I was experimenting with metals my self and i was reading that zinc has always impurities of Cadmium. So i am not sure what this ore’s consistency is, but probably it will have good amounts of Cadmium.

Just watched you attempt to make clear glass with Cody'slab and TKOR. Tough to watch but an amazing video

Just for future reference pronounced as kel-tic. Glad to see you are doing so well after getting the new workshop up and running 🔥

another awesome video from HTME!

This video feels like your channel is fully recovered. Welcome back!

Imagine going to a store, putting one of those brass coins on the counter and asking "Do you take HTME Denarius?"

@cvspvr

3 ай бұрын

the greasy teenager at the counter looks confused for a second, but then, suddenly, he remembers something his mother told him when he was 1 year old, a centuries old promise she passed on to him to assist the ancient god andy, should he ever return to this earth

Brass is also good for corrosion resistant applications. In the nineteenth and 20th centuries it was often used for hardware, though nowadays those functions are more often filled with stainless steel, although brass hardware is still found in hardware stores and in some industrial machinery.

I know trip prices would be high, but I would loved to see you vising areas for which romans were getting theirs resources.

Eyyy finally a new video!!!!

The wood they would have used was denser and tighter growth rings than today's pine 2x4's. That is a contributing factor to the wear on the da Vinci lathe.

I swore I would never melt brass again, but this video is making me rethink that decision.

Brass was very important for making black powder Gunz, it’s still the choice metal for our modern bulet casings. Can you make homemade-Gunz in future episode lol

A close-tolerance greased hardwood bearing running on a polished shaft would be fine for your Da Vinvci lathe. Lignam Vite is the go-to wood, but Osage Orange, maple, etc., will work fine. Ancient metal workers weren't much different than modern ones. Some of us like to tinker and experiment. Surface deposits of Tetrahedrite (Cu,Fe)12Sb4S13, also known as Schwazite and Fahlerz, are found over much o Europe, including Italy and Sardinia. Tetrahedrite ore is associated with Iron, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Antimony, Arsenic, and Mercury. It has been mined in Europe since the early Bronze Age. Brass would be a likely byproduct of refining a Zinc Rich Tetrahedrite ore. Its gold color would get it noticed. Looking at maps of Copper & Zinc deposits in today's Italy, one would think Brass could be discovered if a copper smelter were built on a surface Zinc deposit when someone tried to recover Copper from the dross skimmed from molten crucibles of copper discarded on the ground, made up of Zinc ore, and getting brass rather than the copper they expected.

Has anybody ever told you how awesome you are? This channel has consumed my life.

I've read elsewhere that brass was one possibility of what the mythical ancient Greek metal known as "Orichalcum" was. It would definitely fit the literal translation (gold copper), especially since the Greeks would have not had any more idea of what zinc was or that it was the reason this "copper" was gold in color....

Come back, zinc! Come back! Thank goodness I still live in a world of telephones, car batteries, and many more things made of zinc!

@-oiiio-3993

Жыл бұрын

The U.S. one cent coin (Pennies were / are British) has been composed of zinc with a thin copper plating since mid 1982.

Any plans to make a waterwheel or windmill? A environmentally-powered trip hammer, or your wonderful DaVinci hammer, would've made crushing the ore so much easier!

@Jordan-hu8fg

Жыл бұрын

im pretty sure they have been wanting to make a water wheel for ages however they had to make the tools to make the tools to make the waterwheel but i think a video about it is coming out soon because there was a hint abut it 2 or 3 videos ago

Im missing the invention of the bit and bridle. It had maybe the biggest effects on the size of civilizations according to Peter Turchin. So a real game changer!

I'm always amazed at the sophistication of these alloys, especially bronze. I have a 50 year old sailboat that has a number of bronze fittings and they look brand new, even after 50 years of salt water. Bronze has a number of qualities that far surpass any other metal or alloy, and yet it is one of the first to be found in the archeological record.

@lordgarion514

Жыл бұрын

It's a great metal, but when your technology is increasing, you quickly run into the problem of what you're building needing stronger materials, regardless of how corrosion resistance those materials are. Which is why we build high-rises out of easy to rust steel, instead of highly corrosion resistant bronze. Bronze, and other metals like it, are still useful for MANY things of course, but the bleeding edge of technology requires more than it can do.

@Preyhawk81

Жыл бұрын

Interesting fact Uchatius an austrian officer made from 92 copper and 8% tin steel Bronze it was special cast(in iron shells for faster cooling so the alloy couldnt seperate itself) and than steched or smithed they made gunbarrels out of it . They had the same durability as Steel barrels and the last of them got scrapped 1918.

I'm surprised that Andy hasn't covered other ways to make fabric yet, like nalbinding.

Now with brass added to your skill tree, the lathe can be improved (I think brass would be a good fly wheel, idk)

@Noiz...

Жыл бұрын

Wow ,I paused the video to comment this and literally ten seconds later he talk about improving the leathe😂

In the bronze ware of the Dongyi people who existed in Liaodong and the Korean Peninsula, zinc was mixed with bronze unlike neighboring China. Although the physical properties obtained in this way may be a little weaker than copper-tin alloys, it has the advantage of having finer and more stable properties when making castings. Because of this, complex casting work is possible, and zinc is still used when casting bronze in Korea.

@Preyhawk81

Жыл бұрын

gunmetal for britsh naval guns hat 2% zinc in it too. maybe it removes oxygen in the molten alloy too. interesting info

@user-ov5zm5rz3v

Жыл бұрын

@@Preyhawk81 //That's right. In the 18th and 19th centuries, with the development of materials science and metallurgy, we created alloys by rationally mixing materials. However, it is probably in the tin yields they had that Europe and China mixed bronze with almost only copper and tin. Tin is a surprisingly hard-to-find mineral, and it is said that the Mediterranean bronzes used tin mined in small quantities in distant England or Afghanistan. However, in East Asia, there were no well-developed tin production areas, and only China possessed and developed proper tin production. (Currently, Malaysia and Indonesia are the dominant tin producers, but not in the past!) Therefore, the alloy of zinc mixed with bronze appears in the outer periphery of the Bronze Age civilization, where tin is difficult to obtain. This must be the reason why zinc was stone in the Bronze Age of the northern grasslands and the Korean Peninsula! In any case, it must have been a coincidence that zinc was mixed with bronzeware on the Korean Peninsula, and it would have been a while before the bronzeware mixed with zinc was deliberately used because of its physical properties. And by the time zinc was found to be useful as casting technology developed, England would have adopted the method too! Until it goes completely to the iron cannon...

i wish there was a playlist for these

monel metal i believe was traditionally a natural alloy of copper and nickel ores. quite unusual for a commercially useful alloy.

I just proper chuffin love brass. It’s my favourite alloy. And as someone from the steel city that is a hard thing to say!

All those people saying zinc fumes are bad may be right, but it could be a lot worse. A significant quantity of Roman brass was actually made using arsenic as well as or instead of zinc. It's known as arsenical brass or arsenical bronze, and is just as useful as ordinary brass, with a few additional advantages over it (better casting properties, corrosion resistance and ability to work harden).

First of all I really like this channel it's great don't go anywhere guys! I just wanted to make another point that for example it's no mistake or Italy has some of the best if not the best cars in the world, companies like Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Alfa-Romeo are the fastest and most luxurious for a reason. The Italians since Roman times, and most recently since the begining of the Modern era including the Renaissance have bee perfecting and inventing not only the technologies we know now to build modern cars and equipment. For example all sorts of metal used to make cars was perfected by Italians, some of the best glass in the world comes from Italy, of course paint how to make it and apply it, cloth for the interiors, DaVinci invented a lathe for wood and metal, and gears and transmissions came from early watchmakers, the first battery was invented by Volta and Italian, Gugliemo Marconi invented Radio, the medieval trade of making Armour changed into making car panels, and also Italians also had a vast trading network which they established years ago for sourcing materials, and also the Medici Family the top bakers and venture capitalists as well, so basically Italy was primed and ready to produce the best cars on earth

@1pcfred

Жыл бұрын

Yes and the automobile was invented in Germany for reasons too. But it took America to teach the world how to build cars.

Clicked faster than the iron age

@funnyyylock

Жыл бұрын

So you just copied this channel? 🤡

@howtomakestuff226

Жыл бұрын

@@funnyyylock nope 👎 you haven’t watched any of my content so how could you know 🤡

@deadplthebadass21

Жыл бұрын

​@funnyyylock at least they're doing something with their life

@howtomakestuff226

Жыл бұрын

@@deadplthebadass21 dang stinks for backing me up ☝️

@howtomakestuff226

Жыл бұрын

Thanks*

I heard somewhere that the Minoans were experts with brass and made a lot of it which may be where the legend of the king turning things to gold may have come from.

I had always thought brass was a copper, zinc and lead alloy. Intresting.

Can’t wait videos on brass

Woho! New video!

It is interesting how were made first machine tools by hand

Brass makes an excellent low friction surface

6:53 BRAZZIIIIIIILLLLLK

You know once you can cast and machine brass precisely you should be able to make a steam engine and steam powered tools. You can also start trying to extract chemicals from rock / vegetation by heating it up in airless vessels so it won’t burn.

Y‘know seeing those rocks, maybe it was first discovered when someone made an improvised furnace for copper unknowingly using zinc ore as the bricks, leading to the the copper absorbing what couldn’t be seen or known.

I still can't wrap my mind around the fact how they figured out alloys back them. I mean it's not like the metals where found close to each other. Properly just jammed every thing that was shinny into a kiln and prayed for something to happen.

There is brass that you can t forge how do you forge brass ? heating it or cool forging ?

Can you imagine being one of Andy's neighbors? *"Honey come look! That guy is setting rocks on fire again"*

New blacksmiths are often warned against sourcing their steel from galvanized parts. The reason is that zinc sublimates and the gas is toxic if breathed in. I have to wonder if the discovery of brass came from someone trying to see if they could smelt the rock alongside some other metals and the sublimated zinc getting accidentally absorbed into the copper.

I metal detect a lot and cast all of the scrap brass i find into ingots. i need to get a sheet metal roller

Have a look at "Skultuna" (it's in Sweden, but still interesting). Just change to US and you can read it ;-)

Zinc is common in other metal ores particularly with lead and copper, both in SEDEX deposits and also in Massive Sulphide deposits. If you were mining your copper from an ore body rich in copper and zinc then it's quite easy to see how a person could accidentally make brass. And once you have identified that the copper and zinc minerals are the components cam be easily replicated. Honestly I'm surprised it was not discovered and used during the bronze age, though I suppose if one is using surface deposists they tend to be drained of zinc as part of the oxidation layer is exposed to water.

As a marksman, I've always had lots of brass cartridges accumulate over the years. I never knew what to do with them since I don't shoot enough for it to make economic sense to reload them. Maybe I should take up the hobby of melting them down and casting my own coins or just gold looking ingots?

Cool!

where does brass fit on your technology tree?

5:41 The cat's name is Airflow? 🤪

best channel on youtube

Dude. Brass unlocked the industrial revolution 😎 👌

Brass is never overlooked... I walk around with a pair of them everywhere I go!

Education and a cat, excellent. 🙂👍

Let’s go HTME made a new episode

It's likely the process was discovered through the use of copper smelting furnace made from the zinc ore rock - you're using firebrick but old school furnaces were rock structures. Because the zinc will offgas from the ore that makes up the kiln, it would be able to mix with copper being melted in the kiln to form brass. This would probably have been as some kind of odd alchemical reaction changing the copper, and even the ancients had the scientific method down in trying to replicate processes. Somebody looking to replicate it would have realized that the furnace rock was important, and then would have likely experimented with that rock in other ways, like simply putting that type of rock (which we know know is zinc ore) into another regular furnace with some copper. Incidentally, one thing you didn't cover was availability. Workable tin deposits were quite rare in the Mediterranean. The largest tin mines that supplied nearly all the major powers of the eastern Mediterranean in the Bronze age were in the mountains of Afghanistan at the far opposite end of the Persian empire. Copper and later Iron were available all over in easily mineable deposits. Zinc ores would be more readily available than tin, making brass significantly cheaper than Bronze for Romans. Large tin shipments still came from Afghanistan via Parthia, along with other trade goods like silk, but those were exploited heavily by the Parthians to the detriment of Rome and other trading partners. Most of what we know of Parthia actually comes from descriptions of their trade routes (which linked Rome all the way to China) and the Parthian coins found along those routes.

My Great-Grandfather was a zinc miner in the first two decades of the 20th century in De Pue, IL, near Perú, IL. It's not clear when the zinc deposits were mined out, but he left there in the early 20s, I think, and that was that. But I remembered hearing about the "zinc mines" there.

Toad approved content very good

Now maker Orichalcum :D

The bit about the demand for Zinc declining due to less demand for brass totally ignores the use of Zinc alloys in modern industry.

Bronze would be a much better choice for the bushings in the lathe...

You should do one on gold

I’m willing to guess someone’s stone kiln happened to have some exposed zinc ore on one of the sides when they were trying to melt copper

Patiently waiting for Clickspring to jump in.

you want ague? this is how you get ague. remember metal toxicity is not your friend!

My guess about how it was discovered: They tried to use the zinc ore to make crucibles for copper, and it came out looking like gold. So, they tested until they found a process that worked consistently and production began.

Dammit this channel is so cool