LlamaBikes

Is there a reason why I've never seen solid brass uncoated, (so they actually look like brass) nipples? I've been wondering this for a while, and I quite like the brass look, but have never seen or heard about them, doesn't seem like any of the major manufactures make them either.

Thoughts

fietsbob

Customers liked the look of the Nickel plate, & it resists corrosion better.

choteau

Brass will oxidize (rust) to an ugly green. If you try to clean it off, be careful because it's toxic....

SquidPuppet

I assume the coating adds to the surface hardness and helps prevent rounding off the edges with the wrench. Also, raw brass is going to turn green quickly.

I've always wondered why we don't see stainless steel nipples. Price?

pdlamb

Cost first, stainless is more difficult to machine than most steel alloys, and brass is easier than steel. Also, steel nipples would absolutely require lubrication. While oil is recommended on brass nibbles, you can get by without it.

Wilfred Laurier

They do make gold anodized aluminum nipples, but the silver brass ones are stronger.

CliffordK

One could choose a bronze alloy that would turn to a dark brown rather than green. I don't know about the alloys commonly used on the spoke nipples, but I would imagine they could be maintained with moderate cleaning, at least anywhere there isn't a heavy salt presence.

Perhaps bike manufactures don't like to recognize the aging of their products as part of the character of the bike.

I routinely clear-coat brass when I'm brazing, but a paint on the nipples would likely get knocked off by the spoke wrenches and leave an ugly splotchy color.

Gold plated brass would be nice, but probably considered too expensive.

desconhecido 

Depending on the alloys used, stainless fasteners can gall and seize together. In general, it's best not to thread stainless into stainless unless your sure of the alloys. The right lubricant/anti seize can lessen the probability of galling and seizing.

Here is a discussion:
Stainless Steel Galling / Locking Up / Freezing Up

It's pretty startling the first time you see it and embarrassing if you're the one who designed and specified the parts. End up with a very pretty and expensive desk ornament.

Aluminum threaded into aluminum can do the same thing. Looking at various sites, aluminum and some stainless alloys might gall, but I've not seen that personally.

ClarkinHawaii

I had a wheelbuild customer a couple of weeks ago who procured his own spokes and nipples. Told me the nipples were stainless steel. I doubted. I weighed them on my jeweler's scale and compared the weight with aluminum and with brass of the same size. Weighed more than aluminum and less than brass, and had the mild magnetic reaction typical of stainless steel. So I guess they were. He had no idea who made them.

FBinNY 

+1,

the grade of brass used for things like spoke nipples will oxidize very quickly if wet, turning green. This is especially true if you ride in the wet or winter when they salt the roads. There are grades of brass, such as naval brass that resist this better and oxidize to the rich brown of a bronze or copper penny. But they're more expensive and difficylt to machine, so they're not used for most applications.

Years ago there was a company that offered gold colored nipples, but they did it by first nickle plating, then dying (painting?) the surface yellowish so the nickle showed througyh and looked golden.

davidad

Stainless threads would gall and be welded in position.

FBinNY 

Plating adds nothing to the structure or functional hardness of nipples. That depends entirely on the base metal. They don't use stainless steel for a number of reasons, the main one being that stainless steel is usually a "long chipping" material, prone to work hardening. That would make cutting or forming the internal threads difficult. It's possible, but there wuld be a penalty in production speed and broken taps.

As pointed out, many stainless steels are prone to galling, but that's surmountable with oil or grease.

The real issue is why spend more so solve a problem that doesn't exist. Brass is easy to machine at high speed with good tool life, somewhat self-lubricating when threaded to different materials, and resistant to weather or galvanic corrosion. In short, it's pretty close to the deal material for small fasteners, and one would replace it only for a specific reason, such as saving a bit of weight.

dsbrantjr

Especially when in contact with two dissimilar metals, the stainless spokes and aluminum (typically) rims.