[Public-list] stainless hardware

[Elaine and Brian Timmins]

This list of Stainless Steel types is from http://www.mcmaster.com/
This only differentiates between types of Material, not the quality of 
manufacturing, that also effects the quality of the product.
Regards,
Brian  ex#497 (and a heavy user of Stainless Steel hardware in industrial 
maintenance as well as on my boats)

About Stainless Steel Cap Screw Material Types
      Stainless Steel Type  Features
      17-4 PH Stainless Steel Combines the high-strength of alloy with 
corrosion resistance of stainless steel.
      18-8 Stainless Steel Offers excellent corrosion resistance; it may be 
mildly magnetic.
      Alloy 20 Stainless Steel Also known as Carpenter 20, it's nonmagnetic 
and especially resistant to stress corrosion.
      300 Stainless Steel Meet more stringent specifications such as 
military specifications. All are passivated (a nitric acid treatment that 
creates a passive film to protect the stainless steel from oxidation and 
corrosion).
      316 Stainless Steel Offers even better corrosion than 18-8 stainless 
steel. It contains molybdenum, which increases resistance to chlorides and 
sulfates. It may be mildly magnetic.
      450 Stainless Steel Offers more corrosion resistance than alloy steel.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gordon White" <gewhite at crosslink.net>
To: <public-list at alberg30.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 7:37 PM
Subject: [Public-list] stainless hardware


> This is a warning I am sending to both the Alberg sailboat group and the
> auto racing history group to which I belong: Ordinary stainless steel
> hardware is not to be used in highly- stressed places on either boats or
> race cars.  There may be stainless alloys that may be used in sailboat
> rigging, but ordinary stainless hardware is not strong enough.
>
>    I just bought a couple of dozen stainless nuts and bolts from West
> Marine, of which four were so badly made the bolts would not thread into
> the nuts.  There is a lot of expensive but cheaply-made foreign
> stainless hardware being sold these days and its quality, if not its
> price, is pretty poor.
>
>    On a boat, stainless typically does not rust, which is good,
> although it is subject to stress and other forms of corrosion.  In
> highly-stressed places like rigging, be certain to use only
> rigging-quality stainless, not the by-the-pound junk.
>
>    On Saturday, at the Williams Grove Old Timers' old race car meet in
> Pennsylvania, I overheard a car owner saying, proudly, "I used all
> stainless hardware in restoring my car." This is a dangerous thing to
> do.  I made that mistake about 20 years ago and was lucky to correct it
> before anything broke on the track.  I twisted off the heads of a few
> bolts under torque that they should have survived.
>
>    In stressed points on the race car always use aircraft-quality
> hardened nuts and bolts, if possible, with rolled threads.  Most
> stainless hardware is just not strong enough.  I saw Gays Biro, a very
> experienced older driver, die because, first, he assembled the
> suspension on his car badly and because he used hardware store quality
> bolts.  They broke, the car rolled and killed him at a vintage meet.
>
> - Gordon White
> Deltaville, VA
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