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Want a dark stainless steel finish for anchor chafing plate

I would like to use a stainless steel to fabricate an anchor chafing plate to weld against a dark steel hull. I would like to use an alloy that appears as dark as possible so that it can remain unpainted, corrosion resistant, and reveal as little, if any, color change due to chaffing wear. What alloy would come the closest to meeting these requirements? Is there a finishing process which would stand up to the chafing and provide anything close to the desired appearance?

Jeff Miller
Marine Architect - Los Gatos, California, USA
July 26, 2008

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July 31, 2008

Here's the gist of what I'd suggest, now you are welcome to go with stainless steel, a good sheet metal shop should be able to provide you with pricing and insight a lot better than we can, and they can bend and form it to your specifications. However getting a good solid weld between mild steel and stainless steel is a huge pain in the butt. I would suggest welding studs onto the surface and bolting the scuff plate in place. This will no only allow you to change it out in the future, but you will be able to replace any coating under the scuff plate after the welding is completed.

I would also hesitate to use stainless steel in this application, I believe that a good high impact plastic would be a better choice, but I'm not the one who has to be happy with the results.

If you can't get the color you want I would look into paints before running over to the plating shop. Epoxy paints should do the job very well.
As I am not a professional in the metal finishing industry, I'm hesitant to offer up any suggestions to get the material to the desired color.

Marc Banks
Blacksmith - Melbourne, Florida