Post
by e3steve » Sat Dec 04, 2010 1:47 pm
Stainless steel will rust -- quite dramatically, in fact -- unless it's polished (buffed) to 'seal' the surface. Even 316L (marine grade). If you scratch or weld s/s then that area becomes an 'open sore' which can be undermined by oxidisation (or excess-oxygen contamination). It doesn't disintegrate anything like as quickly as normal steel does, though.
Certain grades and types of s/s most certainly have magnetic attraction properties.
EDIT: and to append, s/s can be considered to have similar attributes to marble -- as a living organism as opposed to a synthetic material -- whereby its molecular structure changes with its environment. And on a yacht, the (polished) stainless structures' surfaces on the leeward side do not deteriorate / oxidise like they do on the windward side.
I once worked with captain who actually 'massaged' -- and I mean massaged -- the s/s guardrails, lifelines and stanchions with Vaseline when the yacht was newly delivered. In three years, those surfaces never needed polishing or Ferronetting; just a buff with a soft cloth.
