Visited a salvage yard in Portland and found a bunch of old brass door hinges for $2 each

They had this huge bin of mixed hardware that nobody wanted to dig through, and I grabbed like 15 solid brass hinges that just need a quick polish. Has anyone else found good deals by sorting through the junk piles at those places?

2 comments

2 Comments

leobrown13d ago

Man, that's a solid find if they're real brass. Quick way to tell is hit one with a file on the edge where it won't show - if you see yellow or golden metal underneath, you're golden. If it's silver or gray, it's plated. I've scored a bunch of these before and sometimes they're stamped "solid brass" on the backside, but that wears off. Also check if they're heavy for their size, brass is denser than most cheap metals. Even if they're plated though, for $2 each you can't go wrong if the coating is still intact.

skyler_fox7213d ago

Are you sure they're solid brass and not just brass plated? A lot of those old hinges are actually zinc with a thin coating.