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The beauty and elegance of stainless steel is very well recognised, but it’s versatility is perhaps less well understood. In fact, there are a number of different materials that share the core qualities of stainless steel, but vary slightly in terms of their strength, malleability and corrosion/ staining resistance to staining, allowing specifiers to select the precise material composition to meet their specific needs. These are the five main alternatives: Austenitic The ‘300 series’, ...

Stainless steel is a beautiful material. OK we may be biased, but its elegant, modern appearance is one of the reasons why it has been specified in some of the world’s most prestigious architectural projects. But, as with all things of beauty, its lasting appearance can’t always be taken for granted and a little regular maintenance can go a long way to ensuring a long, attractive life. To some degree, all grades and finishes of stainless steel may in some conditions be prone to staining ...

One of the misconceptions that we sometimes come across is that stainless steel is corrosion-resistant. We all know it to be a high quality, durable material, often used in the harshest of environments, but occasionally it may be subject to ‘tea-staining’ (or surface rust). Whether this happens depends on a number of factors, including: the grade of stainless steel specified - by the way, all our Jakob materials are made from the highest grade (316) - often called marine grade the en...

From time to time we’re asked about the issue of the corrosion of stainless steel fasteners, with many people under the impression that they won’t ever rust. Occasionally though they do and in our experience this is almost always down to the fact that the tools used to install the fasteners have poor quality tips and have transferred minute iron filings onto the screws. Once a bit of salt (and other contaminants from the environment) have done their bit, then rust (Iron Oxide) can form i...