Send photos
Photograph the material, nameplates and quantity, then text them to 312-880-8174 or call.
BRONZE 101
Bronze: copper plus tin.
Bronze is copper mixed with tin — harder than plain copper, reddish-brown, and the metal behind bearings, gears, and pump parts for thousands of years. Here's the bronze family in plain English, where sellers find it, and how it differs from brass.
THE ALLOY
Copper plus tin — and the cousins
Classic tin bronze is copper with tin as its main partner, typically around 85–90% copper. It's harder and tougher than pure copper, which is why the world has been casting it since the Bronze Age.
The family has cousins worth knowing: phosphor bronze (tin plus a touch of phosphorus — the springy one), aluminum bronze (copper plus aluminum, no tin — see C954), and silicon bronze (copper plus silicon). Different partners, same bronze idea.
THE LOOK
Reddish-brown, dimmer than brass
Bronze runs reddish-brown — redder and dimmer than brass's gold-yellow. Think of an old penny gone dark, with more brown in it. Freshly machined bronze can look surprisingly bright, but it settles into that warm reddish-brown tone.
The confusion case is red brass, which also runs red. Color alone won't always settle it — check what the piece was (bearings and bushings lean bronze, valves lean brass) and look for stamped alloy numbers. Brass vs bronze walks through all four tests.
THE SOURCES
Bearings, gears, pumps, marine hardware
Bronze lives where metal slides against metal: bearings and bushings, gears, worm wheels, pump impellers, and marine hardware like propellers and shaft parts. Machine shops and plant maintenance closets are the usual hunting grounds.
Bronze is denser than brass and holds more copper in the pound, which is why it typically grades above brass. Keep bronze out of your brass piles — and keep stamped alloy bronze like C932 bearing bronze separate from unmarked mixed bronze.
THE TEST
What counts as clean bronze
Clean bronze is solid bronze, free of steel shafts, iron housings, and grease you could scrape off with a fingernail. Pull the steel shaft out of a bushing. Wipe the heavy grease. Keep aluminum bronze (the silvery-gold C954 family) apart from tin bronze.
Bronze turnings from a machine shop are their own item — tell us the alloy if it's stamped, and send a photo if it isn't.
RELATED
Keep reading the brass & bronze dictionary.
Brass & Bronze Dictionary — the full hub of alloy-by-alloy guides. Phosphor Bronze (C521) — the springy bronze. Bronze Bearings & Bushings — the C932 / SAE 660 workhorse. Brass & Bronze Alloy Numbers — every C-number in plain English.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Bronze questions, answered.
What is bronze made of?
Copper plus tin, for classic tin bronze. The cousins swap the partner: phosphor bronze adds phosphorus, aluminum bronze uses aluminum instead of tin, and silicon bronze uses silicon.
Is bronze magnetic?
No. Neither bronze nor brass sticks to a magnet — if your piece grabs one, it's steel or plated steel, not bronze.
What's the difference between bronze and brass?
The alloying partner: bronze is copper plus tin, brass is copper plus zinc. Bronze runs reddish-brown and harder; brass runs gold-yellow. Full guide: https://ironcrestindustrialsurplus.com/brass-vs-bronze
Who buys bronze in Chicago?
We do — Ironcrest buys bronze, bearings, and bushings across Chicago with same-day pickup and paid within 24–48 hours. Text a photo to 312-880-8174.
Text a photo of your brass or bronze to Sonny at 312-880-8174 — or call 312-880-8174 for today's number.
TODAY'S NUMBER
Call for today's number.
Prices move with the market daily. Text a photo of your brass or bronze and get today's number — quoted against the market, honored at pickup. Same-day pickup in Chicago — and I'll travel nationwide for the right load.
HOW SELLING WORKS
Three steps to an offer.
Material review
We review what the material is, its condition and quantity, and whether it fits a direct purchase.
Receive an offer
For qualifying material, we discuss a direct purchase offer and the next steps.