How to tell the difference between aluminum, stainless and chrome.
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- n this video Evan tries to break down the differences between aluminum, stainless and chrome. Tries is the keyword. Breaking them down is no easy task. Telling the difference between them is one of those look, feel, and test kind of things. If you spray acid on aluminum it will turn white instantly. Aluminum is a porous metal and absorbs most it comes in contact with. Acid sprayed on chrome or stainless does nothing but clean it. Chrome should only ever be hand polished as it is a plated metal. Chrome plating is just a covering over a different metal. Usually plate steel or stainless steel is under the chrome coating. If you buff chrome plating you run the risk of thinning out the coating or worse removing it and exposing the metal underneath it. Both aluminum and stainless can both be buffed as seen in other videos we've posted. Hope you are finding these videos helpful and I hope that they are helping you elevate your game. If you feel you would like more training or would like some hands on training we offer a training course option. In our shop we offer full hands on training of all aluminum and stainless both in polishing and sanding.
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I have been viewing your episodes for over 2 years. This is a beginner MUST to Watch.
Appreciate that.
Don’t be sorry for taking time out of your day for people, I really do appreciate all the knowledge you pass down, you are a great teacher
I appreciate that, thank you for watching and commenting.
valuable information as always good stuff evans keep doing what you do!.
Glad you like them! I will surely try to keep pushing. Thanks for watching and commenting. Means a lot.
Great explanation. Im taking a welding class and appearance and sound were main identifiers absolutely. I also Detail so that advice about not machine polishing Chrome is golden. Thank you!
You're welcome. Thank you for watching
Great video and information. Thanks for the explanation.
Glad to help anytime.
Great explanation my man! Thanks for this
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.
Nice explanation I bought these cool shiny rims but I didn't know if they where chrome or aluminum so didn't know what rim cleaner to buy
Glad I could help
You do great work. Love your videos
Thank you for watching.
Better yet, how do you tell the difference between chrome plated stainless steel and polished stainless 🤔
Chrome has a different kind of shine. You can see it. It almost looks like a coating. Because it is. But I will have a video out soon on chrome.
Which one will polish up with the brightest shine aluminum or stainless steel
If polished properly you can make them look the same but stainless holds up longer being that it is a harder metal and non porous.
Nice
Thank you.
Ha ha love your take on this, in Oz they chrome Alcoa rims and stainless wrap alot of tanks (we don't salt roads so there is no real issues with electrolytic corosion between the dissimilar metals) and nearly every bumper is aluminium and they chrome over plastic, Your ping and ting Is one good way unless its a stainless wrap on an alloy tank their density is very different, and with stainless some grades for example 304 has a ferric iron content to give better properties in forming, welding, and heat cycling characteristics and is magnetic and will get orange spots, but it doesn't 'rust' like wrought iron or high carbon steel. 304 grade is used for exhausts, fabricated and machined parts and alot of the Bling, If you look at the properties of say 316 which is a true stainless it distorts and cracks when fabricated it quickly work hardens also forming cracks also it is hard to machine as heat from even drilling can quickly harden it like diamond and I've had experience welding it on one occasion a supplied 316 stainless V band adaptor needed to be welded into a nickel alloy turbine housing the adaptor was a loose fit with approx 0.010" clearance (I always made mine press fit 304) I started nice bead with the tig as soon as I got half way a loud 'ting' as the crack appeared in the start of the weld and it just kept following. Another ways to test characteristics is a spark test (if possible) touch with a grinding disk and note colour of the sparks (orange is iron an mainly blue is stainless) or absence of sparks and the disk starting to clog is a good indicator its aluminium (or melting and smoke if Chrome plastic) also a hardness comparison / test for example with a Brinell or Rockwell test they indent the metal with a carbide or diamond indenter or you could use an automatic centre punch (about $7 dollars ) to indent and compare depth of indent with a known sample. The use of your acid test will tell you if its aluminium as being a 'reactive' metal it visibly and spontainioiusly reacts and whitens on contact with all mineral acids and also alkaloids wheras chrome and stainless don't react. And I agree a good experienced eye is best and a magnified one is better if you look at the surface you will see the very grains and pores in aluminium that's been etched with acid, stainless you will usually see a linear 'mill' pattern and chrome if done properly you won't see any structure or tooling marks of any kind. And you can do one or more of these tests in an inconspicuous spot and quickly determine what it is and the the ping and ting will be a dull tap on chrome over plastic, Freightliners make the same sound, and with our Aussie built Kenworth's the grille on bonneted models like T404SAR to T909 etc the sides are stainless, top is chrome over steel the hand hold is aluminium cast, the vertical braces are hardcoat anodised alumimium and shouldn't be polished at all an the screen sheet and the dress strip at the bottom is also stainless.
So with a long stick an angle grinder, automatic centre punch and some mag wheel acid cleaner which you probably have on hand you can check before you start.
I always like your tutorials Evan and thanks for sharing, I recommend your clips to my customers in Australia
That’s awesome. Thank you. Really cool to see the oz trucks. Someday I’ll come see them in person.
Would you recommend a chromed or stainless steel bumper? I’m looking to get one for my kenworth w9. Thank you.
Hi sir. Is there any type of acid/compound test or scratch I can do to tell between polished stainless and chrome.
That is a great question. Most stainless and chromes are resistant to acid. Now if you let the acid dry it will burn both stainless and chrome. And if you scratch chrome it can't be fixed without replating. So not sure what the best answer is. For me I can just tell by looking at it. I will look into this for a future video.
What is the wluminum thing to your right?
An old beer keg.
So a quick question, on my harley theres a tonne of chrome. Theres a set of crash bars available in chrome plated, and theres a set available in 304 stainless. Im concerned about how noticeable visually it would be. I tend to notice those little things over time, and am cautious of this. Thoughts please
It is a personal preference thing on your end. It is all about what look you are looking for. Me personally with all the chrome on a Harley I tend to stick to chrome as the color will all match and age the same. If you add stainless it will look a little different and age differently.
@@EvanStegerMetalPolishing that is what i was thinking too. Thanks for verifying what i thought
Evan steger what's the song called you use in the beginning and awesome tips helps alot
Just a raw song with no copyright. No real song name.
@@EvanStegerMetalPolishing oh alright I'll would of like to listening to it lol
I have a stainless keg I wanna polish.
Lots of sanding.
Pipe on truck it is stanless or chrome ??
Depends. Some pipes are stainless but most are chrome.
🤣 i got the German thing too..
Thanks for watching
👍👍👍
Thanks bud.
High quality stainless steel has no carbon, so a magnet will not stick to it. Years ago we used magnets to identify stainless steel, if the magnet stuck to it, it was carbon steel, if it didn’t it was stainless.
These days the cheap stainless we get from china has carbon added as a cheap filler along with other alloys that a magnet will attract to.
So your statements about identifying stainless steel are incorrect.
Pure stainless steel has no carbon in it that’s why it doesn’t rust, rust is caused by carbon in the steel.