As you might guess, tool steel earns its name by being primarily used for tools. If you then picture a steel screwdriver, pliers, or a wrench, you’d be right – but the items created of tool steel group consist of much more. Within the steel industry, tool steel also refers to machine tools, including those … Continue reading What is Tool Steel?
Top Metals for Knifemaking
If there is one constant amongst professional and home chefs, it’s the belief that the single most important tool to possess is a good knife. A sharp knife is easier to control, requiring less force that might lead to slippage and hand injuries. It slices through foods more cleanly, requiring less effort to cut and … Continue reading Top Metals for Knifemaking
Classes of Stainless Steel
When it comes to steel types, stainless is a broad category. Any ferrous alloy containing at least 10.5% chromium can call itself stainless steel. While additional alloying elements may be included, chromium is the significant ingredient in transforming a steel into “stainless”. Chromium boosts the corrosion resistance, durability, and strength of steel. It also results … Continue reading Classes of Stainless Steel
Heat’s Effect on Metal Properties
Often when we speak of heat, it concerns scenarios we’d rather avoid: getting sweaty and sunburnt from the summer sun, overheating laptops or car engines, maybe singeing your hair after leaning too close to a candle. And rightly so! In all these cases heat can be damaging, whether to your possessions or your own self. … Continue reading Heat’s Effect on Metal Properties
Quenching Explained
What is Quenching? If you’ve watched medieval-themed movies and shows, this is a familiar scene: a blacksmith hammering away at an anvil, before plunging a sword into water amid huge clouds of steam. What you may not realize is that you’ve just witnessed quenching in action. While water might be the favored choice for its … Continue reading Quenching Explained
MTR: Mill Test Reports
Each day, we take for granted that the metals we encounter and use in our ordinary lives are safe. The steel framing in apartments and high-rise buildings, the aluminum fuselage of a passenger plane, the metal making up our cars and appliances: very rarely do we question the composition of the metal itself. Our lives … Continue reading MTR: Mill Test Reports
Grade 304 vs 316
Grade 304 vs 316: The Differences between Stainless Steels 304 Stainless Steel versus 316 Stainless Steel: to the average layperson, these will appear to be very similar materials. They both fall into the 300 Series class, made up of austenitic chromium-nickel alloys. They’re the same grayish-silver color, with a bright and lustrous shine. Neither type … Continue reading Grade 304 vs 316
Annealing vs Tempering
Annealing and tempering are two of the most common heat treatment services used in metal production. But you may wonder: what is the purpose of heat treating in the first place? What differentiates these processes, and why choose one over the other? Heat TreatmentWhen producing metal products, a beam or plate emerging from the casts … Continue reading Annealing vs Tempering
What is a Non-Ferrous Metal?
If you were asked the definition of a non-ferrous metal, the answer may seem obvious: it’s a metal which contains no iron. And while that’s true, it might surprise you that the answer is not entirely correct! Non-ferrous metal is a sprawling category, which covers iron-free metals such as aluminum or copper. But a metal … Continue reading What is a Non-Ferrous Metal?
A36 Steel: A Grade Guide
The global market for structural steel is enormous, valued at 100 billion dollars USD yearly. It’s easy to see why steel is such an appealing choice for construction due to its qualities: high strength, toughness, formability and ease in welding. And among the many types of structural steels, grade A36 stands above the crowd. Key … Continue reading A36 Steel: A Grade Guide