Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Quality Standards for Stainless Steel Fabrication

October 13, 2011

Does there exist an objective statement of "quality standards for stainless steel fabrication" beyond the limited requirements of NSF and the boiler and pressure vessel inspections program of ASME?

I'm particularly interested standards of appearance of architectural finishes.

What this is about is stainless work fabricated for an "extra premium grade" architectural woodwork project that includes custom stainless steel finishes.

The architect was given a SS sample by a previous fabricator. (This fabricator resigned from the project.) It looks like a new piece of polished ss with the protective film removed. Our (fairly complicated) fabricated pieces don't look like that anymore.

We are trying to hit the quality marks set by the customer in a shop that hasn't previously worked to that finish level. The shop is very well on board with the idea that we can do this but-

When I try to explain the possibilities achievable with the finish- after application of heat and grinding etc- to the customer, it seems like I'm answering opinion with opinion.

I would appreciate any information and comments about how this sort of issue has been handled by others.

(I'll add that I have been in architectural woodwork for many years and this is my first experience with dealing with finish requirements where objective quality standards are not easily obtained.)

Thank You,

Harry

Harry Rodenhizer
Business Development Manager - Durham, North Carolina, USA