Tips for working with Stainless...

[rmwarren]

Wait... So, you are customizing stainless fittings (!) to be used as electrical conduits (!) that leave a garage (!) 
You must be retired.  [big grin]

BTW, tips for working with Stainless: If same type of stainless is used on both parts, threads will gall and cold weld together and you won't be able to separate them. Pipe threads are especially prone to this due to their cone shape and high friction. Don't ask how I know.

I am retired...there is a God.  [big grin]

I always chose a different stainless for both the bolt and the nut. 304 bolts are common and 316 nuts are fairly easy to find so that's the combination I used, to work around that issue. However, that wasn't the cure 100% of the time. Sometimes under high torque conditions, the fasteners still welded themselves together.  [sad]

What I've used in the last 8-10 years is a light application of Never-Seez. That works wonders. Just don't get it on yourself as it readily transfers to anything you touch.

[attachimg=1]

And no less than the Nuclear Grade will do for you  [not worthy]  [big grin]

Well, I guess if a fella needs stainless conduits, why skimp?

RMW

 

[Packard]

In the stamping industry, we called the “welding”, “galling”. It was a huge problem.  Mostly solved by using chlorinated oils.  As explained to me by the oil engineer, the chlorine molecules act like small (really small) ball bearings and prevent galling. 

Farberware, the now-out-of-business pots and pans manufacturer used bronze tooling to deep draw their pots and pans as a way to work around the galling issue.  Stainless will not gall with bronze.

The problem with that is in order to make an alloy of bronze hard enough to stand up to the abuse of a stamping operation, the bronze gets hard, but extremely brittle.

For deep drawing pots and pans the tooling was sufficiently robust to avoid the brittle issue. 

We used bronze tooling for several of our tools for that same reason.  Sometimes it worked and other times the tooling would shatter like a piece of glass. 

Welding or galling.  The same problem in different situations.

 

[Cheese]

And no less than the Nuclear Grade will do for you  [not worthy]  [big grin]

Well, I guess if a fella needs stainless conduits, why skimp?

RMW

Ya, a guy just never knows when he needs to replace bolts on a nuclear reactor...it could happen again any day now.  [smile]

Richard I purchased that can of Never-Seez back in 1982 or 1983 when I was doing a lot of stainless assembly. Notice how much is still left...a little does go a long way.  [smile]  Also, that 1# can was the smallest amount available back then, they now offer it in an 8 oz bottle with a brush applicator and a threaded cover, that would have been real nice to have.

The good news is I think there will still be enough left in that can for my Estate Sale.

[popcorn] [popcorn]