Stainless Steel

Here are few notes I reviewed recently regarding stainless steel.  Stainless steel is resistant to corrosion because it is a steel alloy with chromium.  The chromium present blocks corrosion from spreading.
Type 304 & 316
Type 304 and 316 are the most commonly used types of stainless steel for architectural applications.  These numbers are part of the SAE steel grading scale.  Type 304 is the basic alloy and appropriate for most interior and mildly corrosive environments.  Type 316 is more corrosion resistant due to the addition of molybdenum.  In situations requiring extensive exposure to salt and moisture an even more resistant type would be specified.  Check out the selection form within this publicaton by the IMOA to verify the type for a given application.
Finishes
The standard finishes 1 through 10 correspond to specific finishing techniques.  Here they are as listed on wikipedia:

• No. 0: Hot rolled, annealed, thicker plates
• No. 1: Hot rolled, annealed and passivated
• No. 2D: Cold rolled, annealed, pickled and passivated
• No. 2B: Same as above with additional pass-through highly polished rollers
• No. 2BA: Bright annealed (BA or 2R) same as above then bright annealed under oxygen-free atmospheric conditions
• No. 3: Coarse abrasive finish applied mechanically
• No. 4: Brushed finish
• No. 5: Satin finish
• No. 6: Matte finish
• No. 7: Reflective finish
• No. 8: Mirror finish
• No. 9: Bead blast finish
• No. 10: heat colored finish-wide range of electropolished & heat colored surface