Mike,
Well, I am glad I was able to answer some of your questions. As for the 2011, this is most likely a poor choice if your planning to do any welding!!! It is used for making Screws and threaded components mostly which tells me it has a very high tensile. It machines well, but I did not find any which had a 0 (or T0) which tells me it is not very soft. Again, if your doing any welding, and since your application tells me you might, it is NOT a good choice. 2011 is not going to weld at all! As for the 2023, I found little or know little about it. It is a very high Nickel alloy as is the 2011, which tells me your looking at a alloy that will not be very bendable.
As for my recommendations, I would try to stay with the 5052-0. It machines nice, it welds nice and will bend better than most. This is also very easy to come by, more so than the 2011 (which also is used in Medical Devices). Good luck and let me know if I can be of any further help.
Regards,
Glen |