solid brass or brass plate??

[varkpilot]

found chandelier in family attic.

magnet will not attach to any part

scratched in inconspicuous spot and it was yellow

my guess is that it's solid brass but are there other tests to be sure?

it doesn't seem heavy enough to be solid brass

the fixture is definitely out of style....it might be worth more to metal recycler than to antique dealer or homeowner.

apologies if this belongs in "off-topic" forum!

[blackhat]

Could well be brass wash or plate on a pot metal casting. Only way to tell that I know of is take it apart until you can see inside or break it.

[Cooler]

Could well be brass wash or plate on a pot metal casting. Only way to tell that I know of is take it apart until you can see inside or break it.

Modern brass plating is generally 0.0003" thick ("three tenths of a thousandth") nominally.  It could go to 0.0005" in spots and down to 0.0001" in others.  When the process was less precise they would lay on more brass to guarantee coverage.  But anything over 0.005" is subject to flaking and peeling.  So if you can find an inconspicuous spot and can scratch 0.005" deep and it is still yellow, then almost certainly it was solid brass. 

The 0.0003" thickness is "commercial brass" plating.  There might be instances where heavier coatings are called for.  But from my experience, once you get over 0.001" thick the plater has to really know what they are doing or the finish will flake off.  I have not heard of anyone doing 0.005" recently and a quick Google search shows nothing either.  

So anything a sharp knife can scratch through would certainly exceed the likely thickness of the brass plating.  It is  probably solid brass.

[Snipe Hunter]

You'd be surprised what may have value. Solid brass or not. Can I see a pic?

[oscarMadison]

You'd be surprised what may have value. Solid brass or not. Can I see a pic?

yep, I was going to ask for one too.  I was less interested in the value and more if it was older and unique.  I kind of like some of the stuff of old.

[varkpilot]

two tier; ten candles

[Phil Thien]

It looks like a nicer piece to me.

I'd look for a home for it (see it), before taking it to a scrapper.

[oscarMadison]

depending on how much effort you want to put in you might see if there is a local old home restoration / historical homes group.  That might fit well into some of the old homes.  Are you wanting money for it?  I'd maybe take it to an flea market / antique place and gift to one of the vendors rather then scrap.  I doubt you will get much for scrap.

If you're not interested in the money, another alternative, you might want to put out where you put your trash a couple of days before trash.  Around here scrappers usually do the route the evening before or early morning of trash day.  A little bit earlier in the week someone who wants it might spot it.


Having said that I also understand being tired of trying to find people who want stuff.  Around here I get the "somebody could use that".  I ask, "you want it", "you know somebody who might want it", followed by "you know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who might have a clue as to someone who would know someone who might want this"  these are usually followed by "No, but ..."  By then I usually lose it, beat them over the head with the object and it is to damaged to use so it needs to be trashed.  Ok, I'm exaggerating a little bit on the beatings, but you get the point.

[oscarMadison]

just adding it's a nice enough piece but it doesn't have the intricacies that I see in stuff that I have picked up from the 30's and 40's. I'd guess newer then that. Even their every day stuff often had some nice detailing. Some of it is really beautiful.

[EricU]

we had one just like that , except it was one level.  House built in  the late '70s, early '80s.  I think that's a good time frame for this one.  Still might be solid brass, I always thought ours was