The jaws don't look like solid brass. The sponges are strongly attracted to the magnet, so it can be assumed that it is copper-plated steel. So if you think just real brass will do, you probably won't like them. On the other hand, some say copper is actually better as it's softer than brass and excess solder sticks better to the tip of the iron. The upper part of the sponge holder is metal, the lower part of the sponge holder is covered with rubber metal base. The small spatula is four and three-quarters of an inch long, with each sponge being about 2 inches in diameter and almost 2 inches high. There are eight sponges in total. The quality of the sponges looks decent; The quality of the holder is quite good. The included sponges don't fill the holder, but I gently tugged at the material of the sponge to stretch it a little, and this allowed it to fill the holder nicely. I've found that the rubber on the base keeps the holder from sliding on my wooden bench, but depending on your work surface you may need to glue magnets or some sort of weight to the base to keep it from moving. A zippered plastic storage bag is included.