Sorry, I was not allowed to take ESL courses. Forced to take regular
Engirlish.
That is why my grandma is brokerted.

BenT

On 7/22/08, Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Nicely put Ben, your ESL teacher must be proud.  :)
>
> I'd go for the thickest ones or Terry's 2-piece units....
>
> On Tue, Jul 22, 2008 at 2:11 PM, BenT Syncro <syncro@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On 7/22/08, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>   stainless has a lot of properties that make it not as good as steel in
>> many applications.
>>
>>
>> I just want to interject something. Stainless steel is still steel. You
>> must
>> mean mild or carbon steel.
>> As I understand it, stainless steel is nothing more than carbon steel with
>> some chromium added to
>> mix. As the chromium oxidizes, it forms a protective layer onto
>> the iron/steel in the alloy in a similar
>> way that zinc coated steel (galvanized) forms a protective layer over the
>> steel when the zinc turns
>> into zinc oxide. The difference, of course, is the chromium is
>> 'throughout'
>> the material. It's in the
>> alloy.  My best non-metal comparison I can think of are countertops. In
>> Corian (and similar types) the
>> coloring is throughout the material vs. laminated tops such as Formica
>> (and
>> similar types) which only
>> has coloring close to the surface. Corian would be similar in wear
>> characteristics as stainless steel.
>> Surface wears (chromium turns to chromium oxide) but it's still Corian
>> through and through. Formica
>> wears out (zinc in galvanized steel turns to zinc oxide) and eventually
>> the
>> material of the countertop
>> is no longer protected. Same case with the metals. Stainless steel just
>> keeps going in going but not
>> forever. Eventually the material gets thin enough and as some have pointed
>> out - rusts through.
>>
>> The amount of chromium content will determine at what rate the stainless
>> steel will deteriorate. Why not
>> dump more chromium in the mix? Well, chromium is not as strong as carbon
>> in
>> steel. The more chromium,
>> the weaker the material. Like anything else, it's a balancing act of
>> anti-corrosive properties vs. strength.
>> Which brings me to the Vanagon application. Vendors offer not just
>> different
>> alloys of stainless steel but
>> different gauge as well. Since there is no independent testing of the
>> durability of these products, it would
>> be good for someone to start tracking how well these commercially
>> available
>> systems are holding out. You
>> know... more chromium wears longer from a corrosion point of view. But
>> they
>> wear faster as in from cracks
>> due to metal fatigue, etc.
>>
>> Aw, what do I know. I'm no metallurgist. English isn't even my first
>> language. Steel, steal, sounds the same
>> to me.
>>
>>
>>
>> BenT  P. Ipez
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Jake
> 1984 Vanagon GL
> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
> Crescent Beach, BC
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27
>

--
BenT