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Haven't used it before, bought some of this here from Allparts. Thing is it's soft, malleable, easily bends & forms etc. Not springy at all. I've not seen a stainless steel like this...
Question for anyone who's used it - is this "normal"? I expected it to be hard & with a certain spring to it.
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I haven't done any fretting for a long time but I do handle 'normal' s/s quite a bit in rod & sheet form. It does sound like the wrong stuff, your description is what I'd expected and this isn't like that. But it is bright/whiteish colour, no yellowish/greenish tint.
Shapes fairly plasticene-ish and files far easier than expected. I've asked AP, hopefully they can trace it back to a cockup, or shed some light on it anyways. Thanks Wez.
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You could be right, I could really do with seeing another sample. I do find it hard to believe this is s/s the way it bends with no springback and marks up so easily. Gentle kiss with a nail file marked it up. But it could be a certain grade and annealed state. See what AP have to say. I might buy some from elsewhere so's I can have a comparison too.
Austenitic, Martenistic and Ferritic. The former is ostensibly non-magnetic, the middle takes sharpening well and the latter magnetic. (there's also graphitic and cementic but we can ignore those)
Generally, 18/8 stainlesses (304, 321, 316 being the main grades) are used for most things- these are all austenitics.
Ferritics are generally used for deep drawing and pressing- think sinks and stuff (generally grades 430)
Martensitic (410) are used for blades as they remain keen.
I have no clue which one is used for fret wire- 304 and 316 can be extruded and the bright annealed, so I guess them.
One thing you guys will find out- stainless work hardens like no other - drill a block of it and you'll get so far then just keep breaking drill bits as the heat causes the stainless to work harden. Also, like on like when used as a thread, it creeps and binds like a mofo too.
316 is generally the best all round corrosion resistant grade. It has molybdemum as an addative to make it easy to work with too. 321 has titanium inclusions and is basically useless visually as it has orange streaks when finished. For some reason in the 80's British Rail specified 321 for all their locomotive door handles and wondered why they gradually became more and more orange....
Shiney stainless is generally 'cold finished', non-shiney is hot finised and very dull to look at.
To make it springy, you need to press it first, normally in slit strip coil form.
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
I'm reasonably familiar with 304 & 316 from cars & bikes and making metal flower sculptures and things. By springy I mean springback when bending as opposed to yer actual springs. Where this is like soft ally in that it just bends where it's told, complies with no fight. It could be annealed to this degree but it's just unlike other s/s I've used, took me by surprise. And by how very easy it was to mark. I'll buy another bit just for comparison I think. Cheers all.