What type of Stainless Steel is used?

[Wylie CC]

I have a 2000 Chris-Craft with a sunpad engine cover, and the Cradle & Pin hinge set-up had the pin portion shear off. I asked Chris-Craft, and they said they could order a set for arond $300. I asked my brother, who works at an aircraft repair shop, and he said he can have it welded, and probably stronger than before. He has asked me the following regarding the stainless steel used to manufacture the hinge. I have no idea, and was wondering if anyone who has done welding on some marine grade stainless, if they could shed some light on the materials used? Please see below, and as always, that you to everyone for the knowledge.

Find out what the parent material of the hinges is. Is it 17-4 stainless, 15-5 stainless. Also, maybe they can tell you what weld wire (filler wire) they used to weld the pieces together at original manufacture. Possibly an AMS spec. Weld wire used would be very helpful, but parent material as well would be even better. I may be able to find out a better filler wire.

 

[dingbat]

Re: What type of Stainless Steel is used?

There are over 250 grades of stainless on the market today.

17-4 stainless and 15-5 stainless are both heat treatable alloys and certainly not used for making hinges. Without using this nifty gadget, hard telling what it's made out of. My educated guess would be 304 or 316L if it's made for marine use.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: What type of Stainless Steel is used?

Put a magnet to it. If the magnet sticks, more than likely it is 304. If it does not stick, it is probably 316 stainless. I do a lot of commercial kitchen repair which used lots of 316 stainless. I use the Harris brand mig wire ER316L with a 75/25 mix of CO2-Argon.

 

[JoLin]

Re: What type of Stainless Steel is used?

Based on experience with my '99 Chris express, I'm sure it's 316. They used all good quality, salt-resistant hardware on my boat.

My .02

 

[tswiczko]

Re: What type of Stainless Steel is used?

Or you could get a piece of 410 ss shaft and have your brother turn it down to fit and it'll never break again.

 

[dingbat]

Re: What type of Stainless Steel is used?

Put a magnet to it. If the magnet sticks, more than likely it is 304. If it does not stick, it is probably 316 stainless.

Interesting. 304 and 316 are both Austenitic stainless steels which mean they are not magnetic.

There is no way to tell the two materils apart without a ladle analyst or using x-ray spectroscopy.

 

[G-Daddy]

Re: What type of Stainless Steel is used?

Engine cover hinges on my Sportcraft are cast. Probably a C series cast alloy.

 

[Wylie CC]

Re: What type of Stainless Steel is used?

Thanks guys for all the feedback.
Chris-Craft gave me the number for the supplier, and they gentleman there said it was probably 304. They used 316 on some of the larger boats, but for runabouts, it would have been 304.

I had no idea there were so many different types of Stainless.

 

[1980Coronado]

Re: What type of Stainless Steel is used?

No, 304 will be slightly magnetic.

304 is slightly magnetic if it's been cold worked....if it is annealed it is essentially non-magnetic.

 

[kahuna123]

Re: What type of Stainless Steel is used?

In the meantime Woody get Norm another beer, back to the question. Its 304 if its not real shiny and 316 if it is. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. One is shiney and one is not. Go to this website and order the one that fits or is close. In the case of being close take it to a machine shop and have them cut it or drill it or whatever. I bought a huge one for my Luhrs that raised half a 300 pound cockpit for 6 bucks and the machine shop charged me 30 to make it fit.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#door-hinges/=eryvlk

 

[1980Coronado]

Re: What type of Stainless Steel is used?

Both 304 and 316 can be easily welded. The 400 series gets difficult because of it's heat treatable characteristics.