From: ijames@netaxs.com (Carl Ijames)
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: 304 SS Question
Date: 11 Sep 1999 00:45:37 GMT

>  If you like sweeping and wildly innacurate yet undoubtedly useful
>generalizations you'll *love* this:

Can I play too :-)?

>  Austenitic stainless (300 series like 304, 316, etc.) isn't magnetic.

Fully annealed 300 series isn't magnetic.  However, any work hardening
also makes it magnetic.  I think that theoretically 304 is less magnetic
than 316, but I've seen examples of both that range from "no detectible
pull as I stuck it down the bore of a 7 tesla magnet" to "picks a little
permanent magnet up off of a table".  For what it's worth, I try to buy
316 screws and nuts because they seem less magnetic on average than the
generic 18/8 stuff.  If you really need a piece to be nonmagnetic you
really have to have it annealed yourself.

--
Regards,
Carl Ijames     ijames@netaxs.com