ofafeather Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 What kind of steel would you use for serving utensils, like fork/spoon set? It would need to be food safe and stay shiny without applying a finish that would be worn away. I have some stainless but don't know the type- think it's 304 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Plain mild steel works quite well but does have to be cared for - although it's no worse than seasoning an old cast iron pot for preservation. If you still want stainless, then 303 or 304 will both serve the purpose but you should also passivate the material after forging and final polish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ofafeather Posted July 24, 2010 Author Share Posted July 24, 2010 Plain mild steel works quite well but does have to be cared for - although it's no worse than seasoning an old cast iron pot for preservation. If you still want stainless, then 303 or 304 will both serve the purpose but you should also passivate the material after forging and final polish. Passivate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 You might consider lead free Pewter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Passivation chemically removes scale from the surface, which can otherwise rust. If you polish your utensils (the only way to get a real shiny surface) I don't think that you'll need to worry about passivation... the polishing should take care of that for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy k Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Very cool video - One just doesn't see those old molds laying around anymore. I rank it a 10. - JK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thingmaker3 Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Passivate? Clean it really good & soak it in citric acid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 We have to get some of the stainless steel parts that we manufacture passivated. In our case passivation is done to remove all traces of iron that may be on the surface from manufacture, and is done for corrosion resistance. In some cases we can have it done with citric acid, other times nitric acid is called out on the print. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 I thought passivation involved heating stainless to red then quenching appropiatly. It was explained that heating and quenching was a process to manage the solid state solution to keep the chrome from forming carbides. Keeping the crome free (keeping it from bonding with carbon) keep the stainless ... welll.. stainless. Also... should I worry about leaded stainless alloys? 304L for example? I have made stainless silverware out of "mystery stainless" and polished it without passivation, because I didn't know I had to. Thanks Cliff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 No lead in 304L, since the L stands for low carbon. Another one is ELC, which stands for extra low carbon. 303 may have some lead since it is free machining, can't recall at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Artfist... I thought I had seen 304L listed as a leaded steel for free machining ... thanks for the info, just not interested in poisoning myself or anyone else...accidentally... violates the rules of hospitality.... Thanks Cliff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 From what I understand there is one company left in the United States that is making flat ware. Right now they are using 18-8 stainless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 A lot of tomato processing equipment is 316 to resist the acids they contain. We run a lot of 303,304, and some 316,416,17-4. So, we generate bar ends big enough that could be used to forge these from time to time. If you want I can keep an eye out for some. We are mostly running smaller diameter stuff now. If all you need is stainless regardless of what grade I can check the scrap drum for bigger diameters. I am already keeping an eye out for big copper for a couple of guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pault17 Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 I like the video too. very amazing. I have only made service spoons and ladles as yet, and they have been mild steel. I just rub them down with olive oil after washing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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