Brass Suppliers Lima OH

Karl Gillihan

🟡 BRASS

Brass Machining and Screw Machine Parts Suppliers in Lima, OH

Brass is among the most machinable structural metals in industrial use, and Lima's screw machine and CNC turning community has made full use of that characteristic across a range of industrial and commercial programs. Valve and fitting components for petroleum infrastructure, precision turned connectors for automotive and defense electronics, and formed sheet metal assemblies for instrumentation enclosures all flow through Lima's brass fabrication shops. The city's proximity to both automotive assembly in northwest Ohio and the refinery and chemical processing sector makes brass a recurring, in-demand material in the local supplier base.

ISO 9001AS9100ITAR

C360 Free-Machining Brass -- Lima's Screw Machine Staple

C360 free-machining brass, with its 61.5 percent copper, 35.5 percent zinc, and 3 percent lead content, is the most machinable copper alloy in commercial production. Its machinability index of 100 -- the reference standard against which all other metals are measured -- means Lima screw machine and CNC lathe operators can run C360 at surface speeds above 500 surface feet per minute with high-speed steel tooling and above 1000 surface feet per minute with carbide, producing clean chips and achieving surface finishes of Ra 63 microinch or better directly from the turning operation without secondary grinding or polishing. In Lima, C360 rounds and hex bar in diameters from 0.125 to 3 inches are the standard inventory item for shops producing valve stems, fitting bodies, connector housings, instrument ports, and general hardware components. The material's free-cutting lead phase breaks chips cleanly on threading, drilling, and cross-drilling operations -- capabilities essential for the valve fittings and hydraulic adapters that move through Lima shops serving the refinery and oil field equipment market. A standard brass NPT fitting body can be turned, drilled, and threaded in a single screw machine cycle in under 60 seconds on C360, making it economically competitive even for lower-volume industrial parts. For defense program work, C360 brass appears in electrical connector backshells, fasteners and standoffs, and ground connection hardware. Lima shops serving ITAR-registered programs can machine C360 components with the full material traceability and documentation package required for defense supply chains. Buyers should note that C360 contains lead, which means RoHS-compliant applications require a lead-free brass alternative -- most Lima shops can substitute C353 or bismuth-bearing brass grades when lead-free compliance is specified.

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C260 Cartridge Brass for Forming and Stamping Applications

C260 cartridge brass, with its 70 percent copper and 30 percent zinc composition, gives up the machining efficiency of C360 in exchange for superior cold formability. The 70-30 ratio sits at the peak of the brass ductility curve, enabling deep drawing, severe bending, spinning, and stamping operations without cracking or tearing that would fail a higher-zinc or lower-ductility alloy. In Lima's industrial environment, C260 finds application in formed instrument enclosures, drawn shell components for sensors and transducers, stamped electrical terminal and clip designs, and tube components for heat exchanger and refrigeration applications. Lima sheet metal shops with progressive die and multi-slide tooling work C260 strip from 0.010 to 0.125 inch thick for high-volume stamped components. The material's consistent formability reduces scrap rates and tool wear compared to harder copper alloys, and its bright yellow appearance after forming is commercially desirable for instrumentation and decorative hardware applications. For tube bending and expansion operations in refrigeration and heat transfer assemblies, C260 brass tube in outside diameters from 0.25 to 1.5 inch is stocked regionally and available to Lima fabricators with standard lead times. From a design standpoint, buyers specifying C260 for formed components should account for its susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking in ammonia-bearing environments. For parts exposed to industrial ammonia -- refrigeration system components or certain agricultural chemical environments -- low-zinc brasses or inhibited grades are the correct specification. Lima shops experienced with HVAC and refrigeration component work can advise on brass alloy selection for specific service environments.

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Naval Brass for Elevated Corrosion and Strength Requirements

Naval brass, C464, adds approximately 0.75 to 1.0 percent tin to the 60-40 copper-zinc base of yellow brass. The tin addition suppresses dezincification -- the selective leaching of zinc from the brass matrix that progressively weakens and pits yellow brass in seawater and certain industrial water systems. This modification gives naval brass a corrosion resistance profile substantially better than standard yellow brass in chloride-bearing environments, at a modest price premium over C360 and with machining characteristics nearly as favorable. In Lima, naval brass appears in marine-connected defense hardware, water system valve and fitting components, pump impellers and casings for industrial water service, and seawater cooling system components in power generation and industrial process applications. The refinery sector in northwest Ohio operates cooling water systems that create a maintenance demand for corrosion-resistant valve trim and fitting replacements, and naval brass competes with 316L stainless on cost for moderate-temperature water service applications. Naval brass machines cleanly at speeds approaching those of C360, though the tin content slightly increases tool wear compared to the lead-bearing free-machining grades. Lima shops producing naval brass valve bodies and pump components use carbide tooling for production quantities and maintain the dimensional tolerances -- typically plus or minus 0.002 inch on turned diameters -- required for pressure-rated fitting applications. For applications requiring pressure certification, buyers should specify the applicable ASME or MSS standard during the RFQ to ensure Lima suppliers fabricate to the correct dimensional and wall thickness standards.

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Brass Fabrication Beyond Machining -- Welding, Brazing, and Forming

While machining is the dominant brass fabrication method in Lima, the local supplier base also includes shops capable of brass brazing and silver soldering for instrument assemblies and refrigeration fittings, sheet metal forming for enclosures and brackets, and tube fabrication for fluid system components. Brass brazing with BCuP silver-copper-phosphorus or BAg silver-bearing filler alloys is a standard skill in Lima shops serving the HVAC, refrigeration, and instrumentation sectors. For defense and industrial buyers needing welded brass assemblies, it is worth noting that brass is technically weldable by TIG and MIG processes but is rarely welded in practice due to zinc fuming, distortion, and porosity challenges that make brazing a superior joining method for most brass assemblies. Lima shops with experience in brass assembly work consistently recommend brazing over welding for leak-tight joints, using oxy-acetylene or induction brazing depending on the assembly geometry and thermal mass. Deep-drawn brass housings and formed enclosures are a specialty capability among Lima sheet metal shops with multi-slide or progressive tooling. Buyers sourcing instrument housings, sensor enclosures, and small-diameter formed cups in C260 or C268 can find Lima suppliers competitive on price for prototype through medium-volume production quantities. The availability of regional stamping tool shops in northwest Ohio for tooling repair and modification provides Lima buyers with a short supply chain for tool support on ongoing programs.

Frequently Asked Questions

C360 free-machining brass rounds and hex bar are the highest-velocity inventory item among Lima CNC turning and screw machine shops, stocked in the full range of standard diameters from one-eighth inch through 4 inches. C260 is stocked in sheet, strip, and tube forms for forming and fabrication applications. Naval brass C464 is available through regional distributors with three to five day delivery to Lima for standard bar and rod sizes. C230 red brass with its higher copper content appears in some plumbing and potable water fitting applications where the lower zinc content improves dezincification resistance. C353 and bismuth-bearing lead-free brass alternatives are available on request for RoHS-compliant programs, though lead times run slightly longer than C360 due to lower distributor inventory depth.

Yes. Lima CNC shops routinely produce brass hydraulic fittings and adapters to the dimensional standards required for SAE, JIC, NPT, and BSPT threaded fittings. Standard thread tolerances for NPT tapered pipe threads per ASME B1.20.1 and straight threads per SAE J1926 are achievable in C360 brass with proper thread gauging at the machine. For high-pressure hydraulic fittings rated above 3000 psi, wall thickness and material strength calculations per SAE J514 govern the dimensional requirements, and Lima shops familiar with hydraulic fitting production can confirm compliance during the quoting process. Bore tolerances on machined brass valve and fitting bodies run plus or minus 0.001 to 0.002 inch routinely, with tighter tolerances achievable on precision-bore applications using boring bar or reaming operations.

C360 free-machining brass is not RoHS compliant because its 3 percent lead content exceeds the RoHS maximum lead threshold of 0.1 percent by weight in homogeneous materials. For automotive, electronics, and consumer products subject to EU RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU or California Prop 65 restrictions on lead content, C360 must be replaced with a lead-free brass alternative. Common substitutes include C145 tellurium copper, which provides similar machining efficiency with conductivity, and bismuth-bearing brass grades such as C89320 or proprietary alloys from multiple brass rod suppliers that achieve machinability indexes of 70 to 85 relative to C360's 100. Lima shops serving automotive Tier-1 programs have experience with lead-free brass substitution and can advise on the machining parameter adjustments needed when transitioning from C360 to lead-free grades.

As-machined brass has a bright yellow appearance that polishes easily to a mirror finish for decorative applications. Lima shops typically offer as-machined, brushed, and polished surface finishes as direct services. Electroplating -- nickel, chrome, zinc, or tin -- is coordinated through regional finishing suppliers with three to seven day turnaround. Nickel plating on brass provides a silver appearance with improved corrosion and wear resistance for hardware and connector applications. Chrome plating produces a hard, bright decorative finish for visible components. Tin plating on brass connector and terminal components improves solderability and prevents tarnish in electronics applications. For components requiring a uniform matte finish, chemical blackening (Black Oxide) is available for brass, producing a dark black surface that reduces light reflection without dimensional impact. Buyers should specify the plating standard (ASTM or MIL-spec) and minimum plating thickness in the purchase order.

Brass machined parts from Lima CNC and screw machine shops typically carry the shortest lead times of any precision metal because C360 raw material is universally available, the material machines at the highest speeds of any structural alloy, and cycle times per piece are correspondingly short. Prototype quantities of one to ten pieces can often be delivered in two to five business days when the shop has bar stock on hand. Production quantities of 100 to 1000 pieces run two to three weeks including setup, first-piece inspection, and production. High-volume screw machine runs above 10,000 pieces can be quoted on four to six week lead times depending on shop loading. By comparison, stainless steel and nickel alloy equivalent parts run two to four times longer due to lower cutting speeds and higher tool consumption. For buyers running just-in-time programs or maintaining MRO inventory, brass machined parts offer the most favorable combination of short lead time and competitive pricing of any precision-machined metal family.

Last updated: July 2026

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