316 - bright or polished

[davegeezzer]

Hi i want to build a purely assetically pleasing cage for a beach buggy, had a ring around for prices today and now im confused !!, I thought i wanted 316 42mm polished but a couple of places said bright is shiner and polished has a satin finish, also because i want 2.5mm thickness wall its not tube but pipe so it might have a seam !!, one firm offered to polish it, what finish would that give me ? confused !!

 

[GrahamGKD]

Hi Davegeezzer,
Not sure if this will help but it might if you get the supplier to specify exactly what finish they are able to supply - sounds like you want 1P or 2P as opposed to a satin / brushed type finish? I buy quite a bit of flat 316 and that comes 'bright' but with a mill finish (possibly 1D) which is quite (microscopically) dimpled.

 

[Paul.]

If you buy bright polished you will need polishing kit to match the finish on the joints, and to maintain it, bright polish is also much more difficult to hide any imperfections in the joints, dull polished or satin finish is much more forgiving and can be finished using nothing more than flapwheels, garryson blocks and scotchbrite, have a look here for an example, http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=22424

You supplier is correct in that 42.16 dia is a pipe and not a tube, Schedule 10 is the nearest size to what you are looking for at 2.77mm wall thickness, and is usually supplied unpolished,
If wall thickness and diameter is not an important issue you can buy 1.5" decorative tube in 2mm or 3mm wall, usually comes dull polished,

Why 316?, It will cost more and unless its in a really corrosive atmosphere will offer no real advantage over 304

 

[davegeezzer]

Thanks Graham and Paul, that hand rail looks fine and going by what you say about matching the joints and maintaining it thats definetly put me off bright, Im going down the stainless route because of the maintenance my last cage i had chromed and that was a nightmare to keep good. as for 304 or 316 ive just checked out the grades and applications and there isnt an awful lot in it, both are corrosive resistant 316 obviously better for salt water i was just concerned with the salt on the road in the winter months, ill get a price for the 304 and see what the difference is.