Using 430 Stainless Steel for Neve enclosure

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sahib said:
Abbey,

Could you please provide a link for this info/reference?

I have this attached (part of a) paper which gives 430 SS a permeability of 500 with reference to copper.

But yes, the conductivity is given even worse than your figure.
https://www.thoughtco.com/table-of-electrical-resistivity-conductivity-608499
shows resistivity of SS to be about 7xthat of iron, 10x that of carbon steel. It was a ballpark figure.
 
Hi Guys,

I'm a long-time lurker (wow, what a tremendous wealth of knowledge around here!), who has immensely enjoyed taking it in and soaking it up, and this is my first post.  Maybe I won't make too big a fool of myself....

I've been a machinist, welder and fabricator professionally for 30 years, so this topic is something I'm pretty well experienced in.  FWIW, my thinking here would be to avoid stainless altogether unless you have access to a hydraulic press brake, as Pusch3l noted. 

430 SS simply doesn't work and form as easily as mild steel.  Though it's not just terrible, it still has relatively poor ductility and work hardens somewhat when formed.  Machining a deep V-groove to thin it for easy hand bending would risk cracking and tearing at the bend line.  Of course, you'd be soldering up any cracks but that creates another problem due to 430's poor thermal conductivity and high thermal expansion, which are much worse than with your usual hot-rolled mild steel.  They will reliably ensure that what was your nice flat panel ends up looking like a cross between a pretzel and a roller coaster.  Something like Harris Stay-Brite solder would require a lot lower heat input than a hard silver solder, but even at that you still run a high risk of permanent warpage, depending on the metal thickness and the shape/dimensions of the enclosure. 

I second Abbey's recommendation of aluminum.  6061 or 5052 (better) would get you the corrosion resistance along with better workability and much greater ease of exterior finishing, including applying your brush-finished area.  SEM Self-Etching primer has excellent adhesion to aluminum, and can be found at any automotive paint store.  If your application requires magnetic shielding I suppose one could apply some mu metal foil where needed.

Of course, you couldn't just solder up a groove cut into the aluminum the way you could with ferrous or copper alloys.  If at all possible, you'd be time and money ahead to find a small shop with a press brake and have them bend it for you.  The cost is quite reasonable.  Thin aluminum can even be bent in a hand brake, and it'll be way easier to cut and drill than 430 SS.

Rusan
 
Hi Rusan,

Welcome to GroupDIY!

/Jakob E.

(Great first post btw! As you can see, most of us here lacks the hands-on metalwork experience, so it's very welcome to get inputs from someone in the knows..)
 

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