- Due to high ductility, annealed austenitic stainless steels can be bent to equally small bend radii, gauge for gauge, as carbon steel.
- Dies should be given a high polish and be free from all surface blemishes to prevent marring the stainless steel finish.
- The power necessary to bend annealed stainless steel is 50 to 60 percent more than is needed for carbon steel.
- All metal spring-back, or elastic recovery, and 300 series stainless conduit has about 5% more than galvanized steel.
- Calbrite® ½’’- 4’’ standard radius elbows, in types 304 and 316, are kept in stock at our various locations.
- Offsets and sweeps are made-to-order and are recommended factory ordered in larger diameters.
Manufacturing Stainless Steel Cleansing Process
Bending Stainless
Greenlee Tested Calbrite® Stainless Conduit at their Rockford Illinois facility “has the ability and engineering approval, and is currently using Calbrite®™ stainless steel conduit in their ‘Tool School’ bending classes”.
Threading Stainless
- Conduit threads are NPT tapered threads
- Conduit couplings use straight threads.
- NECA 101-2001, “Standard for Installing Steel Conduits, Section 4.1.1.
- Although coupling threads are straight-tapped, conduit threads are tapered. Use a standard ¾-inch per foot taper National Pipe Thread (NPT) die.
- When field threading on a very small scale, most rigid metal conduit field threaders will work for stainless.
- Use standard stainless cutting/threading oils.
- If numerous threading jobs are required at the site.
- Threading equipment manufacturers have dies designed for stainless.
