by melodycoombs25There are literally thousands of options available for those looking to upgrade their current sheet metal fabrication and design skills. The question is, “Which metal is right for you?” In many cases the answer will come down to your budget and the type of projects you’re attempting to perform. If you’re just starting out on a budget and working from a small shop with limited capabilities then you’ll likely want to start out with a different alloy or carbon steel comparison. However, if you’re part of an industrial, commercial shop that requires a large variety of tools and heavy duty equipment and designs often require stainless steel, the process becomes a little more complicated.
The best way to get an idea of which metal is right for your needs is to take a look at some of the performance tests performed by professionals. Often these professionals will test products against commonly known performance criteria like tackiness, toughness, wear and tear, and edge retention. When comparing stainless steel with carbon fiber or aluminum, it’s important to compare the results of both types of metals against each other as well as other metals including brass and chrome. While carbon does have the edge in these areas, it’s still much less than stainless steel. When it comes to the other performance categories mentioned above, stainless steel usually outperforms carbon in every category except toughness.
The higher carbide content found in stainless steels makes them more resistant to indentation and crush damage but can make them less flexible. Carbon steel is also more wear resistant, which is good for cutting tools, but poor for high alloy tool steels. Since carbide increases the hardness of the material, it can also reduce its flexibility, another factor to consider when purchasing a new set of cutting tools.
The final test to compare stainless versus carbon is the thermal treatment of the two metals. Stainless steels commonly undergo tempering at temperatures of 300 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. As a result of this high temperature treatment carbon tends to form a hard, wear resistant layer on the surface of the steel that doesn’t soften as much as stainless steels. This isn’t to say that carbon and stainless cannot be mixed. There are many different alloys of carbon and stainless that will perform as equally well in a variety of cutting conditions.
Other factors to consider are the tensile strength, tensile weakness, and compressive strength of the two materials. In comparing these properties across all three testing programs stainless steels clearly edges out carbon by a large margin. The bottom line is simple carbon steels are simply better.
So what does all this data really mean when it comes to buying a set of stainless or chrome coated tools? Simply put, stainless has an advantage in many situations over carbon due to the properties of chromium. If you have any questions about wherever and how to use where to stamping parts manufacturer, you can make contact with us at our web-site. Stainless is much more resistant to corrosion, even in high humidity environments, and has a much lower melting point than carbon. Stainless also contains less nickel and more manganese, which increase its wear resistance capabilities. In short, stainless has more flexibility and performance than carbon and the extra nickel or manganese means it can stand up to abuse better.
