How to tell stainless from chrome steel?
DougC
want to know if it is stainless or not. What would be the easiest
non-destructive (or the least-destructive) way to tell?
~
DougC
...I guess I should have posted "chrome-moly steel" and not "chrome".
I am not talking about chromed parts, but the underlying metal itself....
~
MikeWhy
"DougC" <dci...@norcom2000.com> wrote in message
news:841vo.7622$4X5....@newsfe14.iad...
Stainless is non-magnetic. I'm pretty sure chrome-moly would be magnetic.
N8N
> "DougC" <dcim...@norcom2000.com> wrote in message
*Most* stainless is non-magnetic. But CrMo definitely *is* magnetic.
So if a part is not magnetic, it's a fair bet that it's stainless; the
converse is not necessarily true.
nate
Jobst Brandt
>>> Suppose you have a brushed/unfinished part made of steel, and you
>>> want to know if it is stainless or not. What would be the easiest
>>> non-destructive (or the least-destructive) way to tell?
>> ...I guess I should have posted "chrome-moly steel" and not
>> "chrome". I am not talking about chromed parts, but the underlying
>> metal itself...
> Stainless is non-magnetic. I'm pretty sure chrome-moly would be
> magnetic.
Not such a good test, because some stainless steels are magnetic.
Jobst Brandt
AMuzi
Many stainless alloys are nonmagnetic (or much less magnetic
than a common 1010 steel anyway) so start with a magnet.
(that assumes you can hold this piece separate from other
steel pieces, unlike, say, a lug on a frame)
You could solvent wash it and wipe it with bleach. Results
next morning should be clear. Some stainlesses may show
small florets of corrosion but most steels will just be
brown all over.
--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
Jeff Liebermann
wrote:
>Suppose you have a brushed/unfinished part made out of steel, and you
>want to know if it is stainless or not. What would be the easiest
>non-destructive (or the least-destructive) way to tell?
Semi-destructive? According to my readings in the firearms groups,
their favored distinction is that stainless cannot be room temperature
blued while chrome-moly blues nicely. I've never tried it, but it
might be interesting to see what happens if you smear some gun blue on
the sample.
<http://www.vansgunblue.com>
I would try it but I don't have any gun bluing handy.
--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
J. D. Slocomb
wrote:
>Suppose you have a brushed/unfinished part made out of steel, and you
Most stainless is non-magnetic, or only slightly magnetic. Most other
steels are highly magnetic.
Cheers,
John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)
Michael Press
DougC <dci...@norcom2000.com> wrote:
Slow neutron spectroscopy.
--
Michael Press
Frank Krygowski
I'd think a few drops of water would tell you within a day or so. If
it rusts, it's probably not stainless steel. (SS can sometimes show a
little rust if it's been in contact with carbon steel.)
- Frank Krygowski
BigP
> On Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:17:26 -0500, DougC <dci...@norcom2000.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Suppose you have a brushed/unfinished part made out of steel, and you
>> want to know if it is stainless or not. What would be the easiest
>> non-destructive (or the least-destructive) way to tell?
>> ~
>
> Most stainless is non-magnetic, or only slightly magnetic. Most other
> steels are highly magnetic.
What other steels are non-magnetic?
I have a cheap dumbell spanner that I'm interested to know what is made of.
It's very light and a magnet is not attracted to it. I hope it's not
aluminium!
David Scheidt
I've seen two sorts of those things. Crap ones made of zinc, and
slightly less crappy (and good enough for most of what they're used
for, including occasional wheel changes on the road) ones made of
aluminium.
--
sig 2
Peter Cole
I have a magnetic rack that I use to store implements by the stove. Some
of my spoons and ladles stick very well, some not at all. As near as I
can tell, they're all stainless, there's no obvious difference in
appearance.
BigP
> BigP <p...@pomegranateremovehighlyimpracticalfruitmm.st> wrote:
>
>> I have a cheap dumbell spanner that I'm interested to know what is
>> made of. It's very light and a magnet is not attracted to it. I
>> hope it's not aluminium!
>
> I've seen two sorts of those things. Crap ones made of zinc, and
> slightly less crappy (and good enough for most of what they're used
> for, including occasional wheel changes on the road) ones made of
> aluminium.
Thanks. I didn't think of zinc. I think my relatively heavy old one (~50g)
must be zinc, and the incredibly light new one (24g) aluminium.
I got it to use for Brompton rear wheel roadside emergencies. I'm a sucker
for light things even when somewhat crappy. Hopefully it'll be ok as it
fits closely and I'll only be using it occasionally, perhaps never.
AMuzi
Typically die cast white metal, mostly zinc.
Norman
<p...@pomegranateremovehighlyimpracticalfruitmm.st> wrote:
> David Scheidt wrote:
> > BigP <p...@pomegranateremovehighlyimpracticalfruitmm.st> wrote:
>
> >> I have a cheap dumbell spanner that I'm interested to know what is
> >> made of. It's very light and a magnet is not attracted to it. I
> >> hope it's not aluminium!
>
> > I've seen two sorts of those things. Crap ones made of zinc, and
> > slightly less crappy (and good enough for most of what they're used
> > for, including occasional wheel changes on the road) ones made of
> > aluminium.
>
> Thanks. I didn't think of zinc. I think my relatively heavy old one (~50g)
> must be zinc, and the incredibly light new one (24g) aluminium.
>
I believe Zinc evolves hydrogen with a bit more pep than
Alumin[i]um when exposed to HCl. Also, if you destroy
a shoddy Zinc tool in the process you make the world a
better place by a tiny increment.
Tom Ace
<p...@pomegranateremovehighlyimpracticalfruitmm.st> wrote:
> I have a cheap dumbell spanner that I'm interested to know what is made of.
> It's very light and a magnet is not attracted to it. I hope it's not
> aluminium!
These wrenches are light and non-magnetic (but not cheap):
http://www.newmaticsound.com/ccp0-catshow/TT-016.html
Tom Ace
J. D. Slocomb
STAINLESS STEEL OVERVIEW: ALLOY CLASSIFICATIONS
200 Series Austenitic \u2013 Alloys: 201, 202, 203, 204 & 205
Chromium-nickel-manganese alloy with high strength in the annealed .
Non-magnetic, not heat treatable and has excellent formability for
several forming applications.
Typical use: washing machine tubs, structural applications.
300 Series Austenitic \u2013 Alloys: 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 308,
309, 310, 314, 316, 317, 321, 330, 347, 384
Chromium-nickel alloy can develop high strength by cold working.
Non-magnetic, not heat treatable and has good formability. Additions
of molybdenum can increase the corrosion resistance.
Typical use: Food equipment, chemical equipment, architectural
applications
400 Series Ferritic \u2013 Alloys: 405, 409, 429, 430, 434, 436, 442,
446
Straight chromium alloy, magnetic, but not heat treatable.
Typical use: Automotive trim, cooking utensils
400 Series Martensitic \u2013 Alloys: 403, 410, 414, 416, 420, 422,
431, 440
Straight chromium alloy, magnetic, but can be hardened by heat
treatment.
Typical use: Fasteners, pump shafts, turbine blades
Precipitation Hardening \u2013 Alloys: 13-8, 15-5, 15-7, 17-4, 17-7
Chromium-nickel, martensitic or austenitic. Develop strength by
precititation hardening reaction due to heat treatment.
Typical use: valves, gears, petro-chemical equipment
Duplex \u2013 Alloys: 329, 2205, 2304, 2507, 3RE60
Chromiun-nickel-molybdenum. More resistant to stress corrosion
cracking than austenitic, yet tougher than fully ferritic alloys.
Typical use: pipelines, pressure shafting
bjw
> On 10/20/2010 9:45 AM, BigP wrote:
> > J. D. Slocomb wrote:
> >> wrote:
>
> >>> Suppose you have a brushed/unfinished part made out of steel, and you
> >>> want to know if it is stainless or not. What would be the easiest
> >>> non-destructive (or the least-destructive) way to tell?
> >>> ~
>
> >> Most stainless is non-magnetic, or only slightly magnetic. Most other
> >> steels are highly magnetic.
>
> > What other steels are non-magnetic?
>
> > I have a cheap dumbell spanner that I'm interested to know what is made of.
> > It's very light and a magnet is not attracted to it. I hope it's not
> > aluminium!
Cheap dumbbell spanner = not stainless, not
non-magnetic steel.
> I have a magnetic rack that I use to store implements by the stove. Some
> of my spoons and ladles stick very well, some not at all. As near as I
> can tell, they're all stainless, there's no obvious difference in
> appearance.
Yes. Some stainless is non-magnetic and some isn't.
I brought up this example once while arguing with jim beam
about spokes: I have some inexpensive stainless spoons/ladles
that came from IKEA and are marked "18/0" (not the often seen
"18/10") and are fairly magnetic. The 0 indicates no nickel,
and you can read in various sources that stainless containing
nickel (300 series) is non magnetic, while stainless
without nickel (400 series) is generally magnetic (and perhaps
less corrosion resistant).
Ben
Frank Krygowski
> On Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:55:38 -0400, Peter Cole
>
>
>
> <peter_c...@verizon.net> wrote:
> >On 10/20/2010 9:45 AM, BigP wrote:
> >> J. D. Slocomb wrote:
Good summary. I was going to dig that out if nobody else did. Glad
you got ambitious first.
- Frank Krygowski