Material guide
Gluing Brass
Brass fittings, hardware, instrument parts and decorative items.
Also called brass fittings.
How Brass behaves when you bond it
Often lacquered to stop it tarnishing, and that lacquer is what an adhesive would actually be bonding to. Checking for a coating before assuming bare metal is the first step.
Brass is a rigid copper-zinc alloy that normally wets well once clean. Decorative parts are often lacquered, polished or tarnished, so the apparent brass face may actually be coating or oxide and the joint may fail at that boundary.
Material properties
- Surface energy
- High, which helps adhesion
- Porosity
- Non-porous
- Rigidity
- Rigid
- Maximum service temperature
- 150C
- Normally needs abrading
- Yes
- Normally needs a primer
- No
Surface preparation
Test for lacquer and decide whether it must remain. Degrease, remove tarnish and lightly abrade bare brass to a uniform fresh finish, using non-ferrous abrasive media; clean again and bond promptly. If bonding to sound lacquer is unavoidable, test both adhesive-to-lacquer and lacquer-to-metal strength.
Which adhesives work on Brass
Excellent
Two-part epoxy
Two-part epoxy is rated excellent for this material as an application-level assessment, not as a blanket manufacturer claim. The prepared surface must be sound and consistently keyed where the finish permits. Suitability still depends on the other substrate, joint design and service environment.
Abrade the surface first.
Good
Anaerobic adhesive, threadlocker and retainer
Anaerobic adhesive, threadlocker and retainer is rated good for this material as an application-level assessment, not as a blanket manufacturer claim. The prepared surface must be sound and consistently keyed where the finish permits. Suitability still depends on the other substrate, joint design and service environment.
Abrade the surface first.
Good
Cyanoacrylate
Cyanoacrylate is rated good for this material as an application-level assessment, not as a blanket manufacturer claim. The prepared surface must be sound and consistently keyed where the finish permits. Suitability still depends on the other substrate, joint design and service environment.
Abrade the surface first.
Bonding Brass to something else
Brass to Brass
Brass to EPS (polystyrene foam)
Brass to Polyurethane foam
Brass to XPS foam board
Brass to EVA foam
Last reviewed 8 October 2026.