Soft Stainless material for guards, handle pins & bolsters?

V

Vulcanite

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Jan 16, 2009
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Anyone know of a type of SS that is good for guards and bolsters and pins that is pretty soft, maybe almost as easy to drill, grind and peen as brass? I going unfinished, I like the look of stainless better than brass, but I probably don't want it if it will be too difficult to work?

Also, anyone know of any way to darken SS besides bead blasting and sulfuric acid?

The acid work to put a dull gray color on it but is not very even unless the part is submerged, and that is not black but gray. If finishing, brass is easy to blacken w/ brass black so I'll porbably go brass if planning on blackening anyway, but if brass black or something else works well on SS and some types of SS are easy to work...

Thx
 
I'm not so sure about 316, but 303 works pretty well and has very good corrosion resistance.
 
About the softest or at least easy to work has been 416 ss, stuff machines like butter
but is a little more pricey than other grades.
Ken.
 
Both 416 and 303 are free-machining grades.

416 is Martensitic and heat-treatable.

303 is Austenitic and not heat treatable.

I've not used 416, but 303 is certainly easier on drills, taps, HSS lathe tools, and so on, than the more common 304 or 316 grades.

For hand tools, I don't find the difference seems as great when filing, but I notice it when hacksawing.
 
304 and 316 are gummy. 416 is great stuff.
 
I like 400 series better than 300 series stainless, I find it easier to work with. 416 is my favorite right now. It's definitely harder than brass, though. If you've ever used nickel silver, you may have notice a gummy feel to it when drilling or machining it. 300 series SS feels this way but is harder.
 
timgunn1962 said:
416 is Martensitic and heat-treatable.
Click to expand...

416 will come up to 46Rc with heat-treating. I found this out by accident, but I've also heard of makers HT'ing their 416 guards and whatnot to increase scratch-resistance.
 
I use 416. It works well. After shaping and drilling/tapping, I polish to about 400. Then while heat treating stainless blades, I throw the 416 in the kiln in foil wrap. Temp does not seem too critical for this use (1900-2000). Then I temper with the blades. They come out With a 40 something Rc. Not only does this make them more scatch resistant, but they polish up much nicer if you want. I haven't had any problems with warping after using plate quench.
 
all these things, even just a few dollars each, are really adding up on me, plus I need to focus on getting good at the hardening/tempering and doing bevel grinds well before I worry about fancy fittings. Maybe some day, I'll make bolsters and guards out of hardened and even engraved 416, but not any time soon.
 
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