Is stainless forgeable? I have about 3 ft of 1-1/2 " round stock and some flat stock and am wondering what can be made from this?

Sure, it can be forged. Most "found" stainless is 300 series. At a nice orange it feels almost like pounding on cold mild steel.

Is my memory correct in that stainless after forging will need to be processed in a special way to return the finish to being "stainless" ?

Yeah, best practice is first to anneal it by heating to 2000F and quenching in water. Then it should be passivated or it can be poished.

Or not.

The parts that we make at work get passivated one of two ways depending on customer requirements. They get either citric, or nitric acid passivation. This is to remove any iron that is on the surface to inhibit rusting.

I have 303, 304, 416, 17-4, and some A-286 that I want to play with.

Yeah, best practice is first to anneal it by heating to 2000F and quenching in water. Then it should be passivated or it can be poished.

Or not.

I thought that to anneal something you heated it up and let it cool in air?

I thought that to anneal something you heated it up and let it cool in air?

yea, it does

304, a commonly used stainless, gets annealed as Grant described, in water. Stainless is highly alloyed, 304 containing 18% chromium; 8% nickel; 2% manganese; 1% silicon, and carbon kept below 0.08%, so its behavior is much different than most everyday ferrous forgable steels.

It's a workout for sure, but forges rather nicely. Back in the fire at orange and you should be good.

Phil

I thought that to anneal something you heated it up and let it cool in air?

That's how you normalize most simple steels. (I believe the metallurgy texts often refer to this as process annealing, so I don't think you're entirely wrong to call it annealing. But that's not what most smiths think of when they use the word annealing.) Annealing, in carbon steels up to about 0.8% carbon content, usually involves heating above "critical" and very slow cooling from that temp, often in a container of wood ash, vermiculite, etc. (That method can cause problems on steel with more carbon than about 0.8%.) Non-ferrous metals such as silver and copper are often annealed by heating to a high temp and quenching. And in this respect stainless behaves more like non-ferrous stuff than it does steel.

Correction: I just looked at a couple metallurgy texts, and process annealing is something else.

I thought that to anneal something you heated it up and let it cool in air?

If by "something" you mean metal that's too broad a brush..... Non ferrous metal with the exception of eg aluminum bronze won't anneal at all. Copper, silicon bronze, naval bz, etc, anneal better if heated to a dull red before quenching and ok if just left to cool.....Which is fortunate, cause large sheets can't be brought up to an even dull red and quenched. I've run across A36 that was air air hardening, which can be a real problem if you have a 100 balusters to anneal I think SS forges better than cold a36 and is tough for sure. The main problem for me is fine tapers and such cool quicker than mild steel.........

If by "something" you mean metal that's too broad a brush..... Non ferrous metal with the exception of eg aluminum bronze won't anneal at all. Copper, silicon bronze, naval bz, etc, anneal better if heated to a dull red before quenching and ok if just left to cool....Which is fortunate, cause large sheets can't be brought up to an even dull red and quenched...I think SS forges better than cold a36 and is tough for sure. The main problem for me is fine tapers and such cool quicker than mild steel.........

He's got 1-1/2" bar here, he'll think he's pounding cold mild steel.

He's got 1-1/2" bar here, he'll think he's pounding cold mild steel.

Agreed ....How big the PH is will come into play, using a 250#, no biggie, a 50# LG which is rated for 1 1/2'' a36 it will be a tough row to hoe ....If by hand it might as well be titanium......

I was asking for because I have the big rod and some 1/4" flat stock. I am going to be making a pot rack for my wife and thought that ss hooks on a black rack would look sharp. I have no plans for the big stuff for now, no PH and not enough ambition to forge something that big at this time. Thanks for the info.

Agreed ....How big the PH is will come into play, using a 250#, no biggie, a 50# LG which is rated for 1 1/2'' a36 it will be a tough row to hoe ....If by hand it might as well be titanium......

I suspect he's working by hand.

Yeah, best practice is first to anneal it by heating to 2000F and quenching in water. Then it should be passivated or it can be poished. Or not.

is the color the same in stainless and mild steel for 2000F.,

is the color the same in stainless and mild steel for 2000F.,

Yes. Above 1000F material doesn't matter when it comes to color.

Phil

thanks