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Stainless Steel Finishes in Foodservice
Stainless steel is available in several finishes including cold-rolled smooth, grained and polished. The standard finish in the foodservice industry is a No. 4 finish, a fine single-direction grain. A No. 4 grain is difficult to repair, but it can be done by a professional by carefully grinding and polishing in one direction. After years of heavy use, a stainless steel work table that has many scratches takes on its own patina, but the original grain is still visible.
Stainless steel itself is not grained. A grain is simply small scratches applied to the steel surface in a single direction. A grain direction can be changed, but is difficult work. Commercial Stainless, Inc. commonly changes the grain direction on corner dishtables. Although the stainless steel sheets are welded at 90 degrees reducing weld time and material waste, corners are masked at 45 degrees and the grain direction is changed to give the table a mitered appearance. Commercial Stainless also highlights work table edges giving them a clean and unique finish.
The finishes available from a steel mill vary and start as low as a No. 0 finish. Here are the finishes most useful for foodservice purposes:
No. 2B – This is the most common finish produced by steel mills. It is a smooth semi-reflective finish created during the cold-rolled process by running the steel eventually through highly polished rolls while making the steel the desired gauge. The finish is commonly used for deep drawing operations or as the back side of single-sided finished sheet.
No. 3 – This is a medium single-direction grain finish made using 80 to 100 grit abrasive. Although this was at one time prevalent, this is not a common finish in foodservice today. The common use for No. 3 is as a starting finish on equipment that will require finer finishing after fabrication or forming thus saving finish time in grinding and polishing during production. It is also commonly used on the back side of a sheet of a finer finish sheet like No. 4. Today it is not commonly used as an exterior finish.
No. 4 – A fine single-direction grain finish made using a 150 grit abrasive. This finish is commonly used for equipment that will come under heavy use and rough handling. It is the most common finish for foodservice equipment.
No. 7 – This is a reflective buffed finish created using progressively finer abrasives and compounds. Fine grit lines are still visible, but the finish is a nice highlighting effect for foodservice equipment.
No. 8 – The true mirror finish, this is created using the same technique as a No. 7 finish but finished off with extremely fine buffing compounds to create the highly reflective finish. This is commonly used as a highlight material on foodservice equipment.
Commercial Stainless, Inc.
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