Stainless Steel nails??

C

coldsteelburns

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Aug 2, 2010
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Hey, does anybody know what type of "SS" Stainless Steel nails are likely made from? I have some leftover from making our fence and they are the kind with ridges on them, that help keep them from sliding out over time. I put one up to my 100lb pull, retrieving magnet (from HF) and it was basically non-magnetic, maybe a tiiiny bit of pull on it. I did the same with some 416 SS pinstock I have and it stuck right to the magnet. I am asking cause the nails are 1/8th" and a knife I need to finish right away has 1/8th" pin holes drilled and the only pinstock I have is 3/16. I was curious if there would be any downsides to using these for a couple pins? Thanks for any help and input :)

-Paul
www.youtube.com/Lsubslimed
 
Very very few nails are actually stainless. Most are either galvanized or coated in some way. I have actually never seen a stainless ardox nail like you speak of.
 
I would say they are stainless if he thinks they are.
If they were galvanized or coated, they would have a steel core that would be magnetic and would have stuck to his magnet.
They are quite likely a member of the 300 series stainless steel which is an "austenitic stainless" category, meaning the process to make a 300 series stainless results in:

"Austenitic, or 200 and 300 series, stainless steels have an austenitic crystalline structure, which is a face-centered cubic crystal structure. Austenite steels make up over 70% of total stainless steel production. They contain a maximum of 0.15% carbon, a minimum of 16% chromium and sufficient nickel and/or manganese to retain an austenitic structure at all temperatures from the cryogenic region to the melting point of the alloy."

And what do we know about the condition of face-centered austenite from our heat treating?

It's non-magnetic.
 
I have purchased these from a few manufacturers the one that say the steel say 300 series .They are "faintly" magnetic not enough to be picked up with a magnet but they can be lightly moved my one. Oh and if they don`t have voids and other imperfections they would make fine pins . I have used stainless steel trim nails(used for aluminum soffit and fascia) for pins before , they worked just fine and polished up nicely.
 
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They are stainless for sure. I use them in my day job all the time...and the fact that they are NOT magnetic is a cause of much complaining at the end of a job when its time to clean up the yard! :)
I should think they would make fine pins, other than the fact that they are "ring shank" nails, which could leave small voids when sanding them down. You would either sand them down to the outside or inside of a particular ring, and therefore potentially have a void at the surface of your handle.
I would find a local high end hardware store...not one of the big box stores, something "Ol timey" and just buy some stainless rod.
 
gunknifenut said:
They are stainless for sure. I use them in my day job all the time...and the fact that they are NOT magnetic is a cause of much complaining at the end of a job when its time to clean up the yard! :)
I should think they would make fine pins, other than the fact that they are "ring shank" nails, which could leave small voids when sanding them down. You would either sand them down to the outside or inside of a particular ring, and therefore potentially have a void at the surface of your handle.
I would find a local high end hardware store...not one of the big box stores, something "Ol timey" and just buy some stainless rod.
Click to expand...

Welding shops sell uncoated TIG rod in brass, bronze, stainless,
 
It is the nickel in the 300-series stainless which makes it non-magnetic. Kind of counter-intuitive because nickle is magnetic itself...

TedP
 
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