As Justin explains in this video, there are several grades of stainless steel available on the market. This is important because in our global economy there are parts being made in all these different grades at varying price points. So if you find a great deal on a set of turbo headers online they may not be made from the same grade of materials that other, more expensive options, are made from. This doesn’t mean they aren’t a good deal, or that they won’t work great for your application, but it is important to understand the difference.
But what can you do to tell what material your parts are made from? Other than the seller telling you, is it possible to test at home to find out what grade of stainless your parts are? I mean a magnet isn’t supposed to stick to stainless, so if it does it must be crap and not really stainless, right?
There’s more to it than that. Check out the video.
Video Description:
There are several grades of stainless steel out there, and some of them do attract a magnet. But can you identify the grade based on the magnet? Justin explains in this video.
and great stainless isn’t always best for the application.
There are three distinct types of ‘stainless steel’. Stainless steel is exactly what the name suggests, it does not stain due to mild alkali or acids. Although some grades are also rustless not all types have this property. All types of stainless steel are alloys of iron and chrome but some have other alloying metals, typically nickel added to give them different properties. The three distinct types are ferritic, Austenitic and Martensitic. The latter two being named after the people who devised them. Of the three ferritic is strongly magnetic and the others are either mildly or close to zero magnetic. It is similar to classifying water, you can have tap water, sea water, distilled water and de-ionised water. They all are types of H2O but have different properties.