Sell Your Brass Scrap in Chicagoland for Top Dollar

If it’s brass and it’s not attached to iron, we probably want it. Here’s what crosses our scale most:

• Yellow brass — plumbing fittings, valves, faucets, hose bibs, door hardware. The most common brass scrap there is.
• Red brass — reddish pipe fittings, sprinkler heads, older plumbing valves, pump components. Higher copper content, its own grade.
• Brass turnings & borings — the curly shavings from machining brass. Keep them in their own container, drained of coolant, and free of steel or aluminum chips.
• Water meters — clean meters pay at the top of their tier; sealed or plastic-heavy meters grade lower.
• Spent shell casings — no live rounds. Reloadable calibers can be worth more to reloaders than as scrap — ask first.
• Brass radiators & heat exchangers — older units with brass tanks.
• Plated brass — chrome or nickel over brass still grades. Leave it on; stripping isn’t worth your time.

Nobody can give you a fixed number from a chair — your payout moves with the copper market that day, the grade, and how clean and sorted the lot is. But grades fall into value tiers, and knowing where your lot lands tells you what to expect:

That’s why sorting matters: moving a bucket of fittings from “mixed” up to “clean yellow solids” can be worth more than haggling. We don’t publish per-pound prices — the market moves too fast for that. Text a photo for today’s actual price.

This is the first thing a buyer checks, and it’s worth knowing before you call.

Color. Yellow brass is bright yellow-gold, like a trumpet. Red brass is darker and reddish, closer to copper. Compare pieces side by side in good light.

The file test. Old brass grows a dark patina that lies. File or grind a small spot — the true metal shows underneath instantly: bright yellow for yellow brass, pinkish-red for red brass.

The magnet. A magnet won’t separate red from yellow — neither is magnetic. It only finds the iron: if a magnet sticks to part of a fitting, that’s steel or iron attached. Pull it off.

When in doubt, put it in the yellow pile — don’t contaminate red brass with yellow. Mixed piles get mixed prices.

1. Text or call with photos. A few clear shots to 312-880-8174 — fittings, valves, the whole pile, estimated weight.
2. Get today’s price. Quoted against current markets, not a stale chart. No published per-pound prices — the market moves too fast for that.
3. Drop off or schedule pickup. Drop-off is always welcome in Rolling Meadows. Same-day pickup anywhere in the Chicago area.
4. Weighed in front of you, paid on the spot. You watch the scale, we settle up immediately.

Yes — and drop-off is always welcome too. Same-day pickup is Chicago-only. Across the suburbs — Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Palatine, Elk Grove Village and beyond — we schedule pickups that fit your day. Plumbers, HVAC contractors, and machine shops: we’ll come to the job site or the shop. For the right load, we travel — send photos and we’ll tell you when we can be there.

A photo ID — Illinois law requires scrap buyers to record who they’re buying from. That’s the whole paperwork side of the deal.

Sort if you can, but don’t let an unsorted pile stop you. If you want the best number, an hour of prep goes a long way:

1. Separate red from yellow. Color-check each piece; when in doubt, yellow pile.
2. Pull the iron. Run a magnet over everything — steel handles, iron nipples, screws. Irony brass grades at the bottom.
3. Keep turnings separate. Never mix brass turnings with solid brass, and never mix brass chips with steel or aluminum chips. Drain off coolant or oil first.
4. Drain and dry. Empty valves and traps of water. Dry material weighs and grades cleanly.

Where can I sell brass scrap near me in Chicago?

Ironcrest Industrial Surplus buys brass scrap across Chicago and the suburbs. Text a photo of your pile to 312-880-8174 for today's price, drop it off in Rolling Meadows, or schedule same-day pickup anywhere in the Chicago area.

What is yellow brass vs red brass?

Yellow brass is a copper-zinc alloy with a bright golden color — plumbing fittings, valves, faucets, and door hardware. Red brass is copper-heavy with a darker reddish tint — older plumbing, sprinkler heads, and pump parts. Red brass typically grades higher because of the extra copper content.

How can I tell if it's really brass?

Color is the fastest test: brass is yellow-gold, copper is reddish-pink. File a small spot through any patina to see the true metal. A magnet won't tell you — brass isn't magnetic — but it finds steel or iron attachments to pull off.

Do you buy brass turnings from machine shops?

Yes. Machine-shop turnings and borings are a normal part of what we buy. Keep them in their own container, drained of coolant or oil, and free of steel or aluminum chips. We pick up from shops across Chicagoland.

Do you buy spent shell casings?

Yes — spent brass casings, no live rounds. Casings with primers still in them count as dirty brass. Reloadable calibers can be worth more to reloaders than as scrap, so ask before selling them as scrap.

What's the difference between clean and dirty brass?

Clean brass is brass and nothing else — no steel, iron, plastic, or rubber attached. Dirty brass has contaminants a buyer has to deal with. Clean brass grades at the top of its tier; dirty drops to the bottom. An hour pulling iron off fittings is the highest-paying hour in scrap.

What is irony brass?

Brass with iron or steel still attached — a valve with a steel handle, a faucet with an iron nipple, a fitting with steel screws left in. It grades at the very bottom because the buyer has to separate it. Pull the iron off and both metals pay better apart than together.

Do I need an ID to sell scrap in Illinois?

Yes. Illinois law requires scrap buyers to record a photo ID for every purchase. Bring a valid ID with you — that's the whole paperwork side of the deal.

Do you pick up brass scrap?

Same-day pickup is Chicago-only. We schedule pickups across the Chicagoland suburbs — Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Palatine, Elk Grove Village, and beyond — and drop-off is always welcome. For the right load, we travel.

How do I get today's price?

Text a photo of your pile to 312-880-8174 and we'll tell you what grade it is and what we're paying today — same day, no games. We don't publish per-pound prices because the market moves too fast for that.

We buy brass scrap across Chicagoland and Illinois, including Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Palatine, Elk Grove Village, Chicago, Cicero, Berwyn, Oak Park, Evanston, Naperville, Aurora, Joliet, Waukegan, and Elgin. Same-day pickup in the Chicago area; scheduled pickups across the suburbs; drop-off always welcome in Rolling Meadows.