What material is better 304 or 303

[Joseph Souza]

Between these 2 materials 304 or 303 Stainless witch will give me better turned/threaded finishes on a Lathe?


Thanks in advance to you'al

[Mcgyver]

303 is a free machining stainless and will give a better finish. guys that machine 304 all day long beco€Œ4¬0mean and nasty and growl a lot

[m-134b]

You "can" get good finishes on 304 stainless, but it's a trial and error process, with proper inserts, you can get good results, but they sometimes have to "wear in" and then there's that narrow window where they'll produce that nice glass finish you're after.... 304 IS a pain! But it makes up for it with it's excellent corrosion resistance and such......

Ken

[tobyaxis]

303 is easier and 304 will look nice with the proper tooling. What is your application??? This will decide which stainless alloy to use.

[Glacern]

For the lathe, 303. Even if you use crappy carbide inserts, the finish will be quite decent and you'll feel like a pro.

304 is more for sheet metal guys.

[tobyaxis]

Originally Posted by Glacern 304 is more for sheet metal guys.

304 has more applications than that LOL.

304= Low Carbon variation of 302. Weldable with caution. Excellent resistance to a high number of corrosive conditions and chemicals.

If you don't like 304, try cutting 321. Lots of fun if you like Stainless Alloys.