A2 stainless?

what is A2 stainless? I see cotter pins made of it. Advantages/disadvantages? appropriateness for our marine applications? Reggie

Reg, I think that A2 is like 8-18, but it is the standard for metric parts. Something like that. My knowledge is now getting severely strained and may start to corrode. Cheers Charlie From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of r good Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2011 8:16 AM To: ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] A2 stainless? what is A2 stainless? I see cotter pins made of it. Advantages/disadvantages? appropriateness for our marine applications? Reggie

A2 is 304 18/8 stainless and is strong but can rust. A4 is 316 and will not rust but is not as strong. Which you use depends. I find that I prefer 316 but that things like really good shackles are made of 304. Stainless needs a layer of oxide to make it passivated. The properties change depending on if it is passivated or not. Exposure to oxygen is important so you will find people who will not use stainless when it is buried deep in the wood as it cannot get to the oxygen and can fail. Products like Naval Jelly will restore the passivation layer. You all might find this useful: http://l-36.com/stainless.php <http://l-36.com/stainless.php>Allen On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 5:15 AM, r good <my… [at] hotmail.com> wrote: > > > what is A2 stainless? I see cotter pins made of it. > Advantages/disadvantages? appropriateness for our marine applications? > > Reggie > >