Working with Stainless Steel
Stainless Steel Guidelines
- Keep everything steel away from the stainless steel, including
• all steel grinding media, steel tools, steel tables, steel brushes, drills, etc
• all sparks and dust from grinding steel – keep the stainless isolated from steel sparks & dust
• A stainless steel sculpture can pick up iron particles from the forks on a forklift or steel banding or a steel roller and show rusted areas later. - how to remove the white plastic protecting the finish from the stainless steel
• roll it up with a dowel, adding heat with a heat gun
• for small pieces, warm water works great - Cut with laser, water jet, plasma – not the band saw, it will ruin your blade
- you can drill it, but use drilling fluid and keep the drill bit from smoking
Welding Stainless Steel
- Welding Gas for Mig welding
• Many people use straight Argon, but this can cause globular transfer
• My favorite is Star 44 (Praxair) this is 1% CO2, 8% He and 71% Ar
• Be sure to keep CO2 less than 2%
• C25 (25% CO2 will cause rust formation after being outside for a while – the high carbon content tends to cause carbide precipitation
• Weldreality.com recommends 2% CO2, 98% Argon but this is hard to find here in Southwestern Michigan - Use 100% Argon for Tig welding – generally, my practice is to do initial joins with Mig, repair any defects with Tig
- MIG and TIG Wire – use 308L or 308Lsi for 304 and 201 SS
• Use 316L wire for 316 stainless steel - Rapidly cool stainless steel through the 1600F – 800F range to avoid chromium carbide precipitation
• I use spray bottles and wet paper towels - For stainless steel vertical welds, consider pulsed
- Use manual pulse/puddle-freeze technique when welding – don’t overheat! Manually on-off, on-off
Stainless Steel - Grinding & Finishing
- Grinding – use 3M’s 982C Cubitron ll - this stuff if amazing. I buy it from Enco #337-1083
• it makes grinding stainless steel as easy as grinding steel. - Don’t overheat when grinding!
• Blue color indicates overheating and a thin oxide layer
• use a variable speed grinder and drop the speed
• Underneath the blue is a chromium depleted layer which can allow rust to form
• Grind it clean – don’t overheat this time – or remove the blue chemically – see your Welding Supplier - Stainless steel cleaning and rust removal
• Sculpture friend says 1/3 muriatic acid + 2/3 water – I am skeptical – keep that chloride ion away from the iron!
• Why not use phosphoric acid aka Naval Jelly? H3PO4
• Oxalic acid with nitric might be good – that’s what I use to clean copper
• Internet says use a blend of nitric and fluoric acids to clean, then rinse – I’m skeptical – hydrofluoric acid is very dangerous, if it gets on your skin it will eat right through – you can’t wash it off – causes nerve damage
Stainless Steel Types & Pricing
- Metal choice – Use 304L or 201L for most sculpture applications
- L means low carbon, less than .04% – low carbon means less chance of carbide precipitation
- 304 is 8% nickel – nickel is very high priced these days
- 201 is 4.5% nickel, 7% manganese 16.3% chromium – looks and behaves the same as 304 but slightly stiffer
- 201 is about 20% less expensive than 304
- 316L is more for the harshest environments, right next to the ocean, in the salt water even
- 18-8 stainless steel means 18% chromium, 8% nickel – generally, this is a 304 alloy
- 2B finish is a brushed finish – #4 is a mirror finish
- Stainless steel prices in February 2011 from Alro Steel, Niles, MI:
- 316-2B, 16 ga, 4×8 = $303 each and 81 lbs
- 316L-2B, 16 ga, 4×8 $330 each and 81 lbs
- 304L-2B, 16 ga, 4×8 = $260 each and 81 lbs
- 201L-2B, 16 ga, 4×8 = $201 each and 81 lbs and 81 lbs
- 201L-2B, 18 ga, 4×8 = $170 each
- 5052-H32 aluminum – have to use 1/8″ to get same strength = $120 and 56 lb.
- Stainless steel bends so nicely compared to unannealed 5052 aluminum – a real joy to shape. However, it is floppy – can’t use it for ribbon sculptures unless you get up to 1/2″ thick or so.
Hope this is useful information for you! If you like it, please click & share. Love to read your comments about your stainless steel experiences.
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