[TheForge] Stainless steel Forging?

[PlumDon at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/2/2004 11:40:45 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
kaynehdwe at charter.net writes:

We need  to forge some builders hardware for a customer in stainless.  Its 
been a  while since we have forged stainless in quantity.  Does anyone have any  
recent experience and can recommend the best type of stainless to use and the 
 easiest passivating process?



Hi Steve;
 
A dip in nitric acid will do a quite respectable job of passivating  
stainless. You might also recall, because I think you were there, that when Tony  
Robinson was at Gichners, he essentially passivated the dish he made for Bill  
Gichner by heavy duty buffing it. He used a relatively coarse compound and a 2hp  
buffer. At home I believe he uses about a 5hp buffer and 10" wheel. If it is  
simple hardware, that might work well for you.
 
Regards
Don Plummer