303 DOESN'T WORK HARDEN !!!

303 does work-harden, like other austenitic grades. Although the sulphur content makes it relatively free-machining, it will still harden up like a s.o.b. if your tools are not sharp.

I guess you know not to try to weld it.

On 4/14/2018 4:41 PM, Ed Huntress wrote: > On Sat, 14 Apr 2018 15:16:49 -0700, Bob La Londe > wrote: > >> 303 Stainless Doesn't Work Harden!!! ... or does it??? >> >>

>> >> LOL. I give up. > > 303 does work-harden, like other austenitic grades. Although the > sulphur content makes it relatively free-machining, it will still > harden up like a s.o.b. if your tools are not sharp. > > I guess you know not to try to weld it. >

Yeah. Maybe outside of my skill set, but when I sought MFG sources to back up my claims that it does work harden I discovered that it is reported to be weldable, but difficult.

This is from the Penn Stainless website:

Welding Characteristics

• Not generally recommended, but may be welded with some difficulty

• May be welded with Alloy 310 electrodes

• Should be annealed after welding to re-dissolve precipitated carbides

I won't be trying it any time soon.

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DANG-IT! I've been using Thunderbird for a couple months now and I still keep hitting the reply button in Usenet groups instead of the follow up button.

Me either. When I see something like that (2024 aluminum, for example) I decide then and there that I'll leave it to the experts if I ever have to do it.

If you did that here, it went off into cyberspace. That's not my real email address.

These guys manufacture and sell 303 stainless. Under the processing tab it says, "Will work harden, therefore, it should be machined at reduced surface feet per minute and heavier feeds to prevent glazing at the tool interface."

I found a half dozen more sources that agree. All say its the "most" machinable stainless, but they also say it can work harden. Reputable sources like that one.

Saying arbitrarily it doesn't work harden when it is documented that it can may lead somebody into trouble. I don't doubt the Other Poster has had little trouble machining 303. I don't recall having any trouble with

303 either, but I also take the time to research the materials I work with and not just do operations by rote. If you do it the way it worked before it will usually work again, but what happens when it doesn't?

FYI: The same sources (and others) do not say it is not weldable. They say it can be tricky or difficult to weld. Some even offer some suggestions or guidelines for weld processing.

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Apparently that wasn't good enough. I got a PM calling me a non contributing blowhard, that I wasn't going to get banned, but... and then I got banned anyway. LOL.

I guess being right just isn't good enough. LOL.

Its Nelson's forum and he can run it anyway he wants I guess.

Usenet is dead. Long live Usenet. LOL.

Let's face it: the Usenet, and lots of Web forums, have degenerated into cesspools of misinformation. It's reached the point where no one even knows what a credible source is anymore.

FWIW, I still pull a lot of stuff from memory, but I *try hard* to check my memory against reputable sources before answering some technical or legal question. And I usually can. I confirmed what I remembered about 303 with some good sources before responding to you.

I'm surprised sometimes at how much of that technical stuff has stuck with me, especially about obscure things like materials. It's been decades since I was materials editor at _American Machinist_, although I was still drawing on it while I was writing for manufacturing magazines, until I retired in 2016.

Also, since I turned 70 today, I'm expecting it to start going away soon. So far, I don't detect any substantial differences. But it must be coming.

Keep that in mind if I respond to technical questions in the future.

Just remember being a usetawas is respectable. It means at some point you progressed beyond wannabe.

Catch-22... I don't think _WE_ will be the one to notice the difference ;-)

You're saying we'll be going down together. That's comforting.

Hey, thanks, Terry! My first Happy Birthday today came from Allstate Insutance Co. Then came one from Experion. Then came my wife.

My birthday is easy to remember, too. It's the day the Titanic sank. And it's Income Tax Day.

It doesn't do much for the mood of the well-wishers, but they don't often forget it. d8-)

FWIW -- I've *never* remembered the day the Titanic sank (nor wanted to do so), and I remember back when the income tax day was "the Ides of March", not April, so don't depend on that, either. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

Well, see, that's why older people don't remember. Young people remember, as in, "Oh shit, it's income tax day. And that means it's Ed's birthday. Shit." d8-)

The best thing about it is that I never have to buy a fishing license again! Not even a trout stamp!

, but no trout stamp - I need to fix that , because it's required in many waters whether I'm after trout or not . If they're there , you need the stamp .

Yeah, that's the same here (the no-license age, though, is 70). Do you have wild brook trout in the mountains there, or are they stocked?

native to this area , I was never much on fishing . Night fishing for

I didn't think there were any wild trout in Arkansas, but there are some as far south as Georgia, in the mountains (or there were, 20 years ago), so I guess it's possible. The water has to be pretty cold year around for them to survive the summers.

Also, since I turned 70 today, I'm expecting it to start going away soon. So far, I don't detect any substantial differences. But it must be coming.

Keep that in mind if I respond to technical questions in the future.

Thanks much, Tom.

Apparently some of the rivers downstream of the dams too , they pull the cold water from the bottom for the power generation turbines . There's a huge fish hatchery just downstream from I think it's Norfork Dam . They have the whole thing covered with netting , otherwise the hawks and eagles would be fat and they'd have no fish .