Steel

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Alfa-Chile
Posts: 1
Joined: 22 Dec 2014, 16:16
Sex: Male

Steel

Post by Alfa-Chile »

Dear, appreciate your information.
For the construction of a CB that use steel ??
I'm in doubt between a Stainless Steel 316L or 304L Stainless Steel
Thanks.

Antonio.
MaitreZ
Posts: 34
Joined: 11 Apr 2013, 14:29
Sex: Male

Re: Steel

Post by MaitreZ »

Alfa-Chile wrote:Dear, appreciate your information.
For the construction of a CB that use steel ??
I'm in doubt between a Stainless Steel 316L or 304L Stainless Steel
Thanks.

Antonio.
Hello, 316 is for surgical appliances and 304 is for alimentary usage. It seems that some well known manufacturers use surgical steel.


Happy new year.
jake
Posts: 4
Joined: 27 Dec 2013, 03:50
Sex: Male

Re: Steel

Post by jake »

In my experience from buying stainless steel previously, the choice isn't always yours to make unless you look really hard. Many metal supply places stock only one type of stainless in most sizes. Ask around for stock types before getting too attached to one type.
Evocatas
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Joined: 22 Aug 2017, 02:02
Sex: Male

Re: Steel

Post by Evocatas »

I know that this is an incredibly old post, but as this seems to be a point of confusion for most, I feel it should be addressed.

To be clear, I will be speaking specifically of Stainless, Low Carbon Stainless & Surgical Stainless.

First some terms:
-Stainless is a quality of a specific alloy family of steel that is resistant to corrosion which is accomplished, primarily, through the inclusion of Nickel and Chromium to the alloy prior to pouring. The most common forms of this we see today are SS304 and SS316, but there are a variety outside of that (MatWeb has 2115 different alloys labeled as "Stainless")
-Surgical Stainless has no true ASTM definition, but the current industry standard is any stainless containing less carbon than the parent alloy. This is indicated as "L" (for "Low Carbon") on the common name (304L, 316L, etc) .
-Implant Grade Stainless is widely accepted to be 316L or 316LVM with the latter being the more desirable due to the more consistent alloy mixing generated.
-LVM stands for "Low Carbon - Vacuum Melted" and is simply a processed variety of any Stainless L-family alloy. These alloy's are similar (but not inherently the same) as the parent alloy.

With those terms clarified, we can work to answer the question: What do I use?

It's really about applications. SS304 and SS304L are nearly interchangeable, but 304L is a bit weaker due to the decreased carbon. However, it also yields better weld characteristics and, more importantly, doesn't need post-weld finishing to prevent corrosion, where as, SS304 will corrode at the welds faster than anywhere else on the material. Additionally, SS304 is rather ductile, so forming it is easier than forming SS316. You'll see this type of material in institutional kitchens, electrical panels, some tanks with low corrosion, or places where strength is required but not visual quality like inside of a slot machine.

Similar to SS304L, SS316L is also easier to weld, but also comparatively weaker. The largest uses for 316/316L is in food processing and corrosive environments. Some examples include: large industrial food processing plants, chemical plants, hospitals, and in environments where it's inherently corrosive or where bacterial factors may come in to play.

Now, which one is important to us?
Again, it's about application. Technically, with the area that it's being applied, 304 and 304L would be just fine, but it doesn't dress up nearly as well due to the lower Nickel content (read: ooohhh, shiny!!). I believe this to be the largest reason why 316 is used in the external, non-invasive devices arena: it's shiny. Couple the visual appeal with the anti-bacterial aspect of the Nickel and we're given a material that stays appealing, even when dirty, and fights of bacteria like some kind of caped crusader. And it's tough.


Final thought:
As long as you're not doing an insertable, regular SS316 should be adequate. If you're planning to do an insertable with an external device, my suggestion is to mix alloys lower than "L" (316L, 440L, etc). If you look around a bit, you shouldn't have any issues getting 316 or 316L, but 316LVM maybe more difficult. To my knowledge, only a few places have the facilities to manufacture it, and only one in the US: Fort Wayne metals out of Texas. This puts 316LVM at a rather steep premium on the same plane as AEB-L (used for knives and razors but only made by two steel plants in the world... spendy).

Regards,
~Evo
fitherin
Posts: 503
Joined: 13 Jun 2013, 10:53
Sex: Male

Re: Steel

Post by fitherin »

Thank you for the lesson in stainless! A subject I must confess to knowing very little about. Your kowledge about the make up of the various grades and the downsides of items that may be made with the wrong [read cheap/ shiny] versus healthy variants is of great use to the amature belt builders.
I am sure you will save some one a lot of time having to research what they need from a standing start! :D

Fitherin
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