Request quote

Stainless Steel Craftsmanship, in the Construction Industry, is not for the Faint of Heart

stainless railing

Professional Welding

Please consider the type of quality you are seeking when determining who will be doing your work.

Weld quality is a huge issue—both in appearance but also functionality (meaning will the weld actually hold together?)

Most architectural items like railing or decorative features look best with TIG welds. TIG stands for Tungsten Inert Gas welding. This type of welding allows for a very clean, almost decorative, weld bead but can be very challenging to do, particularly out in the field. Tungsten is the weld rod that gets ‘melted’ into the product as shown in the picture below.

Picture of a welder, welding

 

Traditional weld shops are often very ill equipped to handle this type of welding, which brings up another key issue and that is capacity. Qualified TIG welders are hard to find…AMF, because of our niche in stainless steel and aluminum work, boasts approximately 20 full-time certified TIG welders. Our stainless-steel work is seen on railing, decorative hoods, signs, counter-tops, wall wraps, benches, steeples, sun shades, etc., etc.

Stainless Contamination is also a huge issue. Typical shops are notorious for contaminating stainless steel with carbon steel filings, meaning that rust will eventually appear on the surface of expensive, supposedly rust-free, material.

How does this happen? Two very common ways are as follows:

1) Stainless materials are worked-on with tools that are normally used for steel-only fabrication. This might happen when the parts are cut, formed, ground or even transported (something as simple as steel forklift tines contaminate stainless steel).

2) Stainless materials are stored around other carbon steel parts—filings, grindings and shavings find their way (like dust) on to the stainless material and then rest on the stainless waiting for water or atmospheric conditions to start the rusting process.

Ultimately, high quality stainless steel craftsmanship is a real thing—not all stainless steel parts are created equal.

It is important to remember that Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel are NOT FRIENDS!

Weld quality, capacity, and contamination are three key items to consider when determining who does your work. All three can be very critical to making your job successful. Contact us with questions and see what we can do to make your stainless steel work look and function amazingly well.

About the Author

Rich Marker Byline

Rich Marker

All Metals Fabrication Owner and CEO

Rich Marker is an 18 year, skilled professional in metal fabrication and manufacturing. Co-founder, owner and principal of All Metals Fabrication, Rich has helped to sustain the company’s success over a variety of economic conditions. He has extensive background in continuous improvement, training and process improvement, and emotional intelligence—among other specialized proficiencies. He loves to learn, fly fish, watch college football and devour NY style pizza! He has the best family on earth, loves a good plan, great teaching and the opportunity to get better.

Learn More

Request a Quote Today!

Get a Quote

We use cookies to improve your experience. Privacy Policy