[TheForge] Stainless Steel raising

[RIES NIEMI]

on 9/24/03 5:56 AM, Bela Beke at beke@primus.com.au wrote:

> Friends,I  wish to enter into the mysteries of mash brewing.I have some
> dented stainless kegs.
> I need to repair these .Also need to make some close fitting lids from the
> top part of the kegs
> for canning , and other stuff.I'm familiar with the hand raising of non
> ferrous metals , and
> work hardening /annealing.Have read that stainless steel work hardens .How
> does
> one anneal SS? Any suggestions /discussion welcome.
> Regards , Bela Beke .
> beke@primus.com.au

Its true that most 3 series stainless steels can be annealed by heating red,
then quenching in water. This does not work for all alloys of stainless- you
just have to try it and see.
However, even annealed stainless is pretty darn hard. Sure, if you have both
mill finish and annealed, you may be able to tell the difference, but they
are both still tough stuff.
Thin stainless should be able to be raised by using a wooden mallet and a
shot or sand bag, but it will take a lot of hits to move it.
You could raise it hot, but on really thin stuff like a beer keg, you run
the danger of melting it. I have had success using a rosebud tip on my
torch, turned low, and being careful, working areas about 3"-4" in diameter
at a time. 
You can use a steel hammer and a raising ring- a circle of 3/4" round bar,
say 6" in diameter, welded to a "y" shaped yoke that sticks down. You clamp
the long leg of the yoke in your vise or size it for the hardy hole of your
anvil, and work the steel over the hole in the donut.
Thin stainless, up to maybe 18 ga or so, can also be worked on the english
wheel.
But any way you look at it, stainless takes a lot of force to move, and that
means big, expensive tools. Beer kegs are made with hydraulic presses with
hundreds of tons of power.
This is why traditionally beer brewing vats and equipment were made of
copper. You can hand form it much easier, and it will anneal repeatedly.