MATERIAL ATLAS

BrassFrom golden surfaces to weights hidden in wood

Brass can define a slider's golden exterior, sit beneath a black outer body or add weight inside a wooden frame. These pieces show how its role changes with the design.

Top-F introduces brass through its exterior; Lingdong Xiaosha and Samsara 2.0 show how it shares a design with other materials. Identify the part behind a brass label: a golden colour is a visual clue, not a material specification.

Top-F, standard brass version. The maker identifies the material as brass and describes six feedback events over one upward stroke.

01 / EXTERIOR & PARTS

Brass on the outside, other materials within

Metal Toys Dz introduced the standard brass Top-F in December 2023. Its release description identifies brass as the material and describes vibration transmitted through the grooved plate during sliding. The maker counts six feedback events from the bottom to the top. That count describes this product and its stroke, not a property of brass.

Two golden DJG Lingdong Xiaosha sliders show the shark motif on the front and the DJG mark on the back. — **DJG / Lingdong Xiaosha in brass**
DJG Lingdong Xiaosha in brass. The maker specifies a titanium-alloy tuning-fork middle plate; that internal plate is not visible here.

Lingdong Xiaosha: brass outside, titanium within

DJG’s Lingdong Xiaosha brass edition shows why a material label does not describe every part. The June 2025 release specifies a titanium-alloy tuning-fork middle plate as standard. Brass exterior surfaces and a titanium middle plate belong to the same configuration. Its sound cannot be predicted from the brass label alone.

Jiezou Hezi: a naval-brass plate option

BidRush’s Jiezou Hezi announcement describes highly polished titanium alloy and imported naval brass as options for the grooved upper plate. The first-batch sales configuration at the end of the same announcement specifies the titanium plate, so the material options alone do not confirm a naval-brass piece in that first batch. The slider middle plate is listed separately as black PEEK with added ceramic powder. Naval brass is a brass alloy family; the announcement does not identify an exact grade such as C46400.

02 / THE MIDDLE LAYER

A brass middle layer in an aluminium body

A black Samsara 2.0 slider is offset to reveal a golden middle layer with two long slots. — **GD EDC / Samsara 2.0 in aluminium and brass**
GD EDC Samsara 2.0 in aluminium and brass. The brass middle layer is exposed beneath the black outer body.

Samsara 2.0: two materials, different roles

The April 2024 aluminium-and-brass update of GD EDC’s Samsara 2.0 uses an aluminium body with the maker’s stated matte black surface treatment. Brass is used for the finely brushed middle layer. GD describes the sliding action as smooth in its explanation of this layer and the assembled configuration.

The maker lists 38 g for the complete fidget, with dimensions of 46 × 27 × 13 mm. These figures belong to this aluminium-and-brass configuration, rather than the brass layer alone or every Samsara 2.0 version. GD also links reduced copper contact during play to the removal of the front copper inlay. This describes a change to the front surface; it does not guarantee that copper cannot be touched during any operation. The brass middle layer remains.

38 gComplete aluminium-and-brass configurationMaker-listed · 46 × 27 × 13 mm; not the brass layer alone

03 / HIDDEN WEIGHT

GD Mahjong: brass hidden inside wood

GD EDC’s January 2025 Mahjong mechanical slider uses an African blackwood body with vegetable-tanned leather inlays. Its brass blocks are inset into the wooden frame as weights. Wood and leather still form the main exterior.

This is a useful distinction between containing brass and having a brass body. The release does not state the brass blocks’ separate mass or provide a comparison with the weights removed, so it cannot establish how much they change the feel.

04 / SURFACE & CARE

Brightness, tarnish and care

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The Canadian Conservation Institute explains that freshly polished brass is usually yellow, though it can appear reddish, and that polished brass can tarnish. Colour and brightness in a photograph cannot identify a particular alloy grade or product version on their own.

Keeping a bright metallic surface and allowing its colour to change are different aesthetic choices. Care still depends on the actual finish and assembly: inlays, coatings, wood and moving contact surfaces should not be treated as one piece of bare brass.

HF EDC has published care advice for brass- and copper-inlaid fidgets: seal them in plastic during extended periods without use, and gently treat naturally oxidised surfaces with polishing pads labelled 5000 or higher in the guide. The grading standard is not specified. This is the maker’s advice for the inlaid toys it describes, rather than a universal procedure for brass EDC. Polishing alters an existing surface, and the Canadian Conservation Institute notes that abrasive polish residue can remain in recesses and engraving. Check the particular product’s instructions before changing patina, an aged finish or a coating. Restoring brightness is one possible choice.