CHARACTERISTICS OF
DRILLING
CUTTING
STAINLESS STEEL
Stainless steels can be fabricated by
methods similar to those used for carbon
steels and other common metals. How-
ever, changes may be necessary to the
extent that they differ in yield strength
and rate of work hardening. All have
work hardening rates higher than com-
mon carbon steels, but the austenitics
are characterized by large increases in
strength and hardness with cold work.
With the exception of the resulfurized
“free-machining” grades (Type 303 is the
common type, but many others can be
treated to be more easily machined), all
stainless steels are suitable for crimping
or flattening operations. The free machin-
ing grades will withstand mild longitudi-
nal deformation, but may exhibit some
tendency to splitting. In spite of their
higher hardness, most martensitic and
all of the ferritic types can be success-
fully fabricated. Exhibit 1 shows the rela-
tive fabrication characteristics of three
groups of stainless steel.