Sekigane from Brass

[hoitomt1]

Are there any examples of brass being used as sekigane in tsuba? Would it work or should i use copper

[MauroP]

The higher the percentage of zinc in brass, the harder the alloy (and so less apt for sekigane). I suppose that brass with low-content in zinc could be good for sekigane, but all iron tsuba I have in my collection have dark reddish sekigane, so more probably made of copper/yamagane. But I'm not a metallurgist...

[rkg]

you might as well use copper or silver.  As an aside, does anybody use copper pennies (if you're us based) for this, or do you scare up pure copper or yamagane?  (not that I'm suggesting defacing US currency as that would be illegal, but...)

Best,

rkg

(Richard George)

[ROKUJURO]

Richard,

why would someone use pennies when soft copper is available? Pennies are probaly made of a copper alloy to make them harder. 

[OceanoNox]

Brass was also considered a luxury metal, besides being harder than copper, so more likely to be on the visible zones of the tsuba.