There are many fabrication businesses in Melbourne that specialise in custom sheet metal projects. And for each project, sheet metal fabricators choose from many metals that are used and praised for their different unique qualities. For example, aluminium is much lighter than most other steels; cast steel is great at withstanding sudden impacts. However, when it comes to making the final choice, stainless steel is mainly used to craft a product to its finest. Stainless steel fabricators choose stainless steel over other materials for a variety of reasons, such as it's easy usage, hygiene, and other factors. Today, we’ll discuss the 4 benefits that our Aston Precision team has in mind when using stainless steel.
A Non-Corrosive Material It is common knowledge to all stainless steel fabricators that stainless steel is one of the few metals that won’t rust. The reason for this is because any piece of stainless steel has a chromium content of at least 10.5%. When stainless steel is exposed to oxygen, this chromium forms a thin layer of protection on top of the metal, acting as a barrier that prevents further oxidisation and corrosion of the metal. Stainless steel’s natural rust-defence is a large benefit for both fabricator and customer.
Cost-Saving in Metal Coating As stated before, stainless steel has it’s own natural corrosion-resistance. This fact means that money doesn’t need to be spent on metal-coating processes. These processes – consisting of galvanizing, powder coating, zinc coating, etc. – are used on metals that will rust when left bare. Most of these practices involve applying an external coating of some substance onto the metal so that the coating can block the part from any exposure to the elements that may lead to corrosion. However, with stainless steel, the money that would’ve been used to conduct these coating processes is saved. This saved money can do a lot for any metal fabrication business.
Amazing Finished Look While this reason may differ depending on the person, most stainless-steel fabricators believe that this type of steel provides a great finished look. The bright surface of stainless steel makes the metal look sophisticated and modern, and it is easily maintainable, meaning that if it were to be dirtied over time, you can easily renew it to its original state. Stainless steel has a stylish aesthetic that can suit a large number of people.
A Very Strong Competitor Compared to most of it’s metal competitors, stainless steel is quite strong. Even in general, steel is the second strongest metal type in the world, falling behind just tungsten. But in the wide variety of steel types, stainless steel is around the third strongest. It’s strength means it is durable and reliable. It can withstand all sorts of impact and remain still usable, whereas any other metal would be damaged beyond repair. It’s tensile strength ranges from a minimum of 515 MPa to 625 MPa as a maximum. Stainless steel can not only withstand strong impacts, but it can also remain functional in both extremely high and low temperatures. Sheet metal fabricators value these qualities of stainless steel as it proves to be a very reliable material for a customer's product.
Now that you are aware of the benefits of stainless steel and how useful it would be to have it used in one of your products, you’ll be happy to know, that our team at Aston Precision work extremely well with stainless steel. But we don’t stop there. We can typically work with stainless steel, aluminium, and mild steel, but if you have a special request, we can work something out to make it happen; we are custom metal fabricators for a reason! So come visit us at Aston Precision, whether it be in person at our Hallam office, or through our website. We’re always happy to help.