Quote:
Originally Posted by Minnewaska
All stainless steel has iron. Its only a matter of how much chromium has been added or other minerals that will affect its grade. ....
...Your buddy with the degree in metallurgy would be able to explain better than I, but magnetism is the result of the alignment of the molecules, not just the presence of iron.
In the end, this was always my rule of thumb. If a magnet does not stick, it is stainless, you just don't know the grade. If a magnet does stick, it is not a high grade stainless, if stainless at all.
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Right! Thanks for the clarification. Of course all stainless
steel has iron it it or else how could it be steel at all? I'm not sure what I was thinking when I wrote that. As for magnetism being a complex process, I do recall THE most boring lecture I EVER attended was a college level physics lecture on magnetism. That was a long time ago and obviously I wasn't paying much attention.
My metalurgist friend said that I could use the magnetic trick to verify that something was 316. I'll have to run that last paragraph of yours by him and see what he says....
MedSailor