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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
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for Metal Finishing 1989-2025
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SUS 440C electropolishing
I'm having some problem doing electropolish for sus 440c. The colour turn out to be grey but I need shining surface since the part is used in clean room. Kindly give me some advice.
Below is some technical information about the part:
Material : SUS 440C
Process : machining ( turning ) > Vacuum hardening > electropolish.
- Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia
Hello Philip!
It's going to be rather difficult to get a bright shiny electropolished surface on standard 440C stainless steel. 440C is a bearing grade, and has a large number of fine chromium carbides throughout the matrix of the metal. The gray you see is likely due to the scattering of the light at the not-so-very-smooth surface.
There are grades of 440C that are made by powder metallurgy methods: at least CarTech and Crucible in the States make them, and there are likely Asian suppliers as well. The far finer carbide size of these grades makes them useful in low-noise bearings, and perhaps for your application as well.
Good luck!
Lee Gearhart
metallurgist - E. Aurora, New York
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