quote:
Originally posted by chinookRandD
Hello all, Sorry to hear about the rust problem. It is good to know though since we have not seen that particular component rusting. Paul is correct here with regards to the particular grades of stainless, they all can rust under the right conditions. Many of the fasteners we use are simply not available in 316 S.S so we use 18-8 for the most part which is mostly 304 grade. That said, we have not seen ANY of these 18-8 fasteners rust. What you are most likely seeing here is surface rust caused by contamination from a high speed tool steel cutting tool. Micro particles of the tool steel can become embedded in the S.S part during machining & thus these particles will rust. I have been trying to switch over to carbide tooling to help negate this problem, & have also looked into passivating the parts. However, my research has lead me to believe it is not as simple as Paul suggested. Again this is not a structural problem so wouldn't worry too much, but we are trying to improve in this respect. Paul, if you have the "recipe" for this home grown passivating solution, please do pass it on. We are a small Mfg co & build most all of our parts "in-house" so welcome all your feedback from down under!
regards,
Caleb Walker
R&D Mgr
Chinook Sailing Products
Well if this post is on the up and up, and Caleb Walker is the R&D Mgr, then that has to be one of the best response from a Manufacture we have had in a while. The tone of the answer explaining maybe why and what "he" is trying to do about it has sold me.
To top this off, he (Caleb) actually request if one of us has a solution and would like to use same, indicates a two way street with this group.
And no I don't usually purchase Chinook gear, but me thinks, maybe I just might from now on in.

Mineral