As I rider to this thread (...sorry Martin, but it does have some relevance) a friend of mine used to make brass knife-scales. He would collect old electrical fittings, especially plugs, and melt the brass down using a home-made furnace fired by a plumbers gas torch. OK, he didn't turn the brass afterwards, he made his patterns close enough to the finished object to simply be able to drill and file them into shape, but he saved himself a fortune on brass......it really is shockingly expensive stuff!
Les