Hi there, 

I've been asked by a local chef, here in Auckland, New Zealand to make some serving plates for his new restaurant.  He wants a rustic/battered look, hence contacting me. 

My thought is that stainless steel is going to be the obvious material, due to its corrosion resistance. I'm thinking 2mm 304 grade sheet, which is 5/64" I think in US measurements

However I have never forged stainless and am a bit freaked out by 3 issues

 1. potential mild steel contamination - So new grinding discs, cutting discs, wire brush, files etc... thats ok, but what about hammers and anvil?  My biggest concern is using some SG steel formers and also some out of mild steel that I'd use for dishing the plates. If I give them a good clean up with a flap disc, would that help. 

2. annealing the stainless - is it as simple as I've read, or a bit hit and miss? - bring stainless up to heat (orange?) and then quenching it in water?

3.  Passivation /pickling - So I'm going to need to get the scale off, is there a better option - passivation or pickling?  Also is total scale removal essential - are there any toxic, corrosive other issues involved with not removing all the scale?  I know some blacksmiths who will leave varying of scale on their work (mild steel). Is there a DIY passivation / pickling process, or rather a way I can bypass what seem to be a very toxic and potentially dangerous chemicals?  I have heard of citric acid being used. 

If anyone has any other thoughts on what other material might be able to be used to make these plates?  The issue is that they need to be washed, so mild steel  is out,, unless they want to constantly clean and reoil. 

Thoughts, suggestions, advice greatly appreciated!

 Regards,  Nate

 

 

I'd be very grateful for the help.

 

 

 

Wow. That's a big one! I'm sure plenty of very knowledgeable smiths will assist you fully on it (i'm not one-i'm a total newbie mate) My tuppence worth is that; I use a mild steel Chinese wok for lots of cooking at home. I never, ever wash it in water. After use, it is wiped out with a damp, then dry cloth, oiled in a very thin coat of peanut oil and stored til next use. It was seasoned by burning oil onto it when new before first use. Good luck on that project, hope you will keep us informed of your progress. If stainless is the way you go, come back to me as I have a brilliant little stainless forging hammer you may want to know of.  Tom.

On 1/11/2017 at 1:38 PM, natedogg56 said:

Hi there, 

I've been asked by a local chef, here in Auckland, New Zealand to make some serving plates for his new restaurant.  He wants a rustic/battered look, hence contacting me. 

My thought is that stainless steel is going to be the obvious material, due to its corrosion resistance. I'm thinking 2mm 304 grade sheet,

If anyone has any other thoughts on what other material might be able to be used to make these plates? 

Well, ... how about Copper, Brass or Aluminum.

Copper with Brass "fittings" makes a very nice job.

304 would be adequate but 316 would be better.

Also I would use 3mm if stainless is your choice.  Some will heartily disagree but I do a LOT of stainless work and 3mm is much easier. 

Nitric acid works for passivation and that will also take care of any contamination. 

Copper or brass will have to be lead free alloys for food service.

As to stainless. 316 has a high acid resistance , that is why it is used in tomato processing. What type of food is being served?

Heat treating, and passivating restore the corrosion resistance in stainless alloys. At the machine shop I worked at the customer would call out the type of passivation they required. Either nitric, or citric acid was specified. 

 Has the chef seen any samples? Ask him what he expects for finish and normal cleaning on his side. If he works with cast iron at all he might be ok with mild steel plates. 

Normal care for cast iron cookware is a good mechanical scrubbing, drying, warming to evaporate any left over moisture and then oil. This may be a little tedious for serving ware. 

As for annealing, Heat it up and smack it. Don't try doing anything while its not hot and you won't have to worry about annealing. 

Any heavy polishing or clean up is probably going to obscure some of the texturing/hammer marks. Personally, I like the look of stainless scale in moderation. I've never made serving dishes but I've made stainless bowls and other housewares that I've left the fire scale on. The scale is dark and makes a strong contrast to the polished surfaces, edges and hammer marks. 

Perhaps look at elctro polishing. Not worth getting into yourself but there may be a shop in town that can assist. Are there any shops that do solely stainless or specialize in stainless steel fabrication? Basically it's electroplating in reverse and the resulting "cleaning" leaves a shiny surface. It's a bit uneven for real polishing but might work for you if you decide to use stainless steel . 

Not sure if this helped. I'd make some samples and see where his wants fall. 

How many?

And, after all that babbling another thing popped into my head. With a hydraulic press and polished dies, some used carpet and a stout leather pillow, you can push your serving plates into shape, cold, and pre polished. Poofo presto.....plates!