Ideas & Advice

EN3B bright Mild Steel (070m20) used to be the most popular specification of bright Mild Steel available. It has since been replaced by steels that have a tighter chemical analysis.

EN3B Bright Mild Steel is now a general purpose Steel that is suitable for welding, can be case-hardened and is good for general machining. EN3B is generally used in engineering applications that will not be heavily stressed.

EN8: unalloyed medium carbon Steel (BS 970 080m40) has high strength levels compared to normal bright Mild Steel, due to thermo mechanical rolling. EN8 is suitable for all round engineering purposes that may require a Steel of greater strength.

PB1 or Phosphor Bronze is an alloy comprised of Tin and Copper that has also had Phosphorus added to it during the casting process.

SAE 660 Bronze or C93200 as it also commonly known is a high leaded tin/ bearing Bronze.

SAE 660 is one of the most widely used alloys on the Bronze range, mainly due to its versatility as a medium range Bronze that make it suitable for many applications.

Stainless Steel is a standard term given to a group of corrosion resistant alloy Steels containing 10.5% or more chromium. All Stainless Steels have high levels of corrosion resistance. This resistance to corrosion is due to a naturally occurring chromium rich oxide layer formed on the surface of the Steel. Although incredibly thin, this invisible, inert layer is tightly adherent to the Stainless Steel and extremely protective in a wide range of corrosive environments.

EN 1.4305 grade 303 Stainless Steel provides the best machinability among all the austenitic Stainless Steels.

303 gains its improved machining and galling characteristics by the addition on sulphur, however this addition also lowers the stainless steels corrosive resistance and reduces its toughness slightly when comparing it to 304 Stainless Steel.

EN 1.4301 grade 304 Stainless Steel 18/8 (18% chromium 8% nickel) is the most widely used of all Stainless Steel types. Due to its composition, corrosion and heat resistance and its mechanical properties, grade 304 is used in all fields of industrial, commercial and domestic manufacturing.

Grade 6063 Aluminium is a medium strength alloy that is one of the most popular alloys in the 6000 series. It is most widely known as an architectural alloy. This grade of Aluminium is most commonly used in intricate extrusions.

Brass is an alloy that is comprised of Copper and Zinc. Different grades of Brass will also contain elements of other alloys that will provide different properties. Brass has a high tensile strength, high corrosion resistance and is suitable to be hot forged.