hardness of brass in solid brass escutcheon pins

[esantoro]

Does it make sense that the hardness of the brass (industry terminology: harness of the wire) in solid brass escutcheon pins will vary from vendor to vendor. I'd like to find some #14 nickel plated solid brass escutcheon pins that are a bit more malleable than the ones I currently have.

Ed

[ENT]

Don't know if you are still looking for an answer to this question, but yes, variation in hardness is likely, probably even between different lots from the same manufacturer.

The brass will work harden as it is formed. Assuming that different manufacturers use different grades of brass, different starting diameters, different starting hardness (or heat treatment), then the finished pins will have different hardnesses.

Unless the manufacturer has to maintain a specific standard for the finished pin properties, they likely will only care about forming the pins to the correct dimensions. If they have to hold to a required finished hardness, then they will probably anneal the pins after forming to get the hardness required.