Brass

Brass is the most frequently used mount material, due to its ease of working, its relative strength, and because it is fairly safe and non-reactive within a sealed case. It does not rust but will tarnish. Pieces can be joined together by silver soldering or by mechanical fastening. Brass can be easily formed with hand tools after annealing, and, if it becomes stiffer and rigid from work hardening, can be quickly re-annealed as often as needed to continue shaping your mount. However, unless very thick, brass does doesn’t have the rigidity to support heavier objects.