Making a Mini Brass Scratch Brush
Details Matter
Build a mini brass scratch brush for small-scale cleanups
By Helen I. Driggs
Sometimes, a commercial brass scratch brush is just too big, too clunky, or too work-hardened from repeated use to do an effective cleanup, especially in tiny spaces. When I noticed my old brass brush wasn’t getting my metal as clean as I had hoped, I set out to solve the problem of creating a smaller and better one to get the job done. All it takes to make one is some brass wire, pliers, and patience.
1. Cut about a dozen 2-inch sections of 24-gauge (or finer) yellow brass wire. You’ll also need about 6 inches of 20-gauge brass wire to make the handle for the brush.
2. Create a U-bend in the center of each 24-gauge wire. Next, create two U-bends in the 20-gauge wire so that the two wire ends slightly overlap.
3. Hold each U-shaped 24-gauge wire in a set of round nosed pliers and twist the wire at the top to form an eye loop.
4. String the eyes of the 24-gauge wire sections on to the 20-gauge wire so they rest in one of the U-bends.
5. Make a handle for the brush by first bending one side of the 20-gauge wire down and then coiling the other side of the wire tightly around it from the U-bend upward. Wrap tape around the bottom ends of the 24-gauge wires to tightly bundle them.
6. Cut about 2 feet of 24-gauge wire. Insert one end of this wire into the tops of the bundled wires and start to coil the new wire around the entire assembly to bind it together tightly. Bring the new wire all the way up the handle to cover the coil made previously with the 20-gauge wire and firmly hold all the parts of the brush together.
7. Trim the cut ends of the brush to neaten them and create a gentle curved profile.
8. Use the brush with soap and water to clean the bases of small bezels, around intricate overlays, into deeply textured surfaces, and in other small areas that are difficult to clean with a standard brass scratch brush. Because the entire assembly of this mini brush is brass, once it becomes work hardened, you can anneal the metal to soften it for reuse again and again.