Engraving Stainless Steel Advice Needed

[Harpuahound]

I do mostly jewelry engraving and I have a customer that has brought in a milled steering wheel for his boat. It is not chromed. I know nothing about engraving Stainless Steel and do not want to start a job I cant finish. Please tell me anything I need to know or take into consideration. Help is very much appreciated

 

[Ron Smith]

Harpuahound, this is a tough metal to work with without knowing its structure. If it is a low grade stainless it will probably be okay with carbide, but there will probably be some point abbrasion and chipping. Have you tried some tiny practice cuts in some obsure places? That will probably tell you much about whether you will be successful easily or not..............Hope this helps...............Ron S

 

[pilkguns]

like Ron said try some practice cuts in hidden areas. Stainless steel is a huge world with some very soft, some very tough. for example, 14 k gold is harder than your 410 and 416 stainless.

 

[Bill Tokyo]

Stainless steel hardness

Is there anywhere I can find a chart or some indication of stainless steel hardness?
I'm curious about 316L (I guess that is the number????) which is the type of stainless
steel most common used in watch cases and stainless steel jewelery.

Put another way, what is it's hardness compared to 14K or 18K gold?

Thanks,

Bill

 

[Ron Smith]

Bill, watch cases will drive you crazy, or at least they did me, but then i was using hand tools at the time. My experience with them was not fun, but I think they were die struck in those days. They may be machined now. I suggest making some little sample cut in an out of the way obscure location. that will give you a clue and it is always good to do this with any metal you are unfamiliar with if it is possible. There are a lot of booby traps out there and this will narrow the gap. I am not sure the vibration of the gravermax or mach would be good on them if they aren't disassembled, but I know there are others that are a little closer to the problem than I. I haven't done any in years. The cut test I mentioned might be all you need, and carbide will cut stainless with varying degrees of difficulty depending on the grade.....Ron S 14k and 18k yellow cuts fairly nicely. White is okay too but a little harder and tougher...........Ron S

 

[Dulltool]

I just bought/ordered two stainless steel Pietta's "Colt" 1873 saa revolvers (I got a smoke'n deal on them) so it's worth a chance they are engrave-able. Or I could just end up with pair of fancy paper weights.

Dennis

 

[Markofx]

Stainless steel

Hi John,

I've cut alot of stainless steel, and the most common for boats is either 304 or 316. These will make you hate your life as an engraver. I was talking to Steve Lindsay the other day about his new vises he's making, and we talked briefly about the stainless steel he's using for them.We had no problem agreeing on how tough the 300 series stainless is. The metal can be cut with some degree of precision if it's held in a solid vise with no vibration at all. You'll know what to expect when to see how well of a tool sharpener you become in a short time. You have to use carbide, and start slow. Look at the pictures of Steve's vises and notice how beautiful he engraved them. There's a master!
Good luck,
Mark

 

[Powderhorn]

Harpuahound:
A quick test to determine what series of stainless you are dealing with is a magnet. If the magnet doesn't stick, or have any pull, it's 300 series stainless. If the magnet sticks, or has a slight pull, it is 400 series stainless. The difference is the iron content. Generally the 300 series is more resistant to corrosion than the 400 series, as 400 series can rust because of the iron content.

 

[Ray Cover]

My guess would be that it is either 303-304 or it is some funky allow with a lot of nickel in it. Both would be miserable to work in. I just plain do not like working 300 series stainless. The thing is, the materials that makes it good for use on water (especially salt water) make it not so good for engraving.

Ray

 

[pilkguns]

Quote from Lytnon McKenzie

"I'm just a professional tool sharpener that does a little engraving in between."


With that in mind, the question is, how much "in between" do you want to do versus the payoff. I just finished engraving the rotor for my 2000 Olympic Team watch. It was pretty hard, almost too hard, but I wanted to do it and it was a small area so I gritted my teeth and did it. I tried to engrave the back of the watch with the crystal set in it and it was too hard. I could make marks in the steel but that was all. So it will remain as is. Oh well.

Note to the purists: yes there are some imperfections in the scroll. The balls at the ends of the scroll look a little off, thats becaause most of them are comprised of the rivets that hold the two pieces together, so they were incorparated into the designs. Plus both pieces as noted above were on the very edge of being too hard to engrave at all. So its not perfect, but I'm happy with.

 

[Harpuahound]

Thanks for all the advice. I did do a cut test in a out of the way place and the metal is extremely hard. There is a fairly large engravable (if you want to call it that) surface, and the customer had a rather large design in mind. I honestly dont have the desire to tackle this anymore. Thanks for the help, Im sure I have just avoided a major headache.