The cast version of 316L for instance is grade CF-3M. WELDS AND CASTINGSĬastings in austenitic stainless steels have slightly different compositions compared to their wrought counterparts. It is common for wrought austenitic stainless steels to contain a very small amount of ferrite, but this is not sufficient to significantly affect magnetic performance except in very critical applications. Austenitic stainless steels, both the common 300-series (Cr-Ni) and the lower nickel 200-series (Cr-Mn-Ni) are non-magnetic. Most non-ferrous metals such as aluminium and copper and their alloys are non-magnetic. Even although the duplex grades are mixtures of austenite and ferrite they are still strongly attracted to a magnet. All stainless steels grades with the exception of the austenitic grades are also magnetic – all ferritic grades (eg 430, AtlasCR12, 444, F20S), all duplex grades (eg 2205, 2304, 2101, 2507), all martensitic grades (eg 431, 416, 420, 440C) and all precipitation hardening grades (eg 630/17-4PH). Some other metals such as nickel and cobalt are also ferromagnetic. WHICH METALS ARE MAGNETIC?Īll common carbon steels (including mild steel), low alloy steels and tool steels are ferromagnetic.

For common carbon steels this happens at about 768☌. Some metals have a temperature at which they change from ferromagnetic to non-magnetic. Materials that show no response to a magnet. Soft magnetic materials can be magnetised by a relatively small magnetic field and when this is removed they revert to low residual magnetism. Hard magnetic materials retain a large amount of residual magnetism after exposure to a magnetic field. Magnetic materials can be classified as “Hard” or “Soft”. Values close to 1.0 show the material is non-magnetic. The ease by which a magnetic material can be magnetised is expressed by the Magnetic Permeability. This is the usual property when a material is said to be “magnetic”. 53rd St., 77).Materials that are strongly attracted to a magnet (either permanent or electro) and that can themselves form permanent magnets. We saw some, both cute and sophisticated, for $4 to $8 at Freehling Pot & Pan (1365 E. Irving Park Rd., 77 ), other paint stores, and at .įinally, kitchen-supply stores stock all manner of adhesive-backed magnetic boards and doodads in various shapes that you can hang on your refrigerator and stick your magnets to, just like the old days. Kling Magnetics also makes one it's available at Epco Paint (4020 W. Rust-Oleum makes magnetic primer that you can buy at Ace Hardware stores and The Home Depot. Apply two to four coats and then cover it with your own paint color. Again, call before you go.Īnother thought is to paint a wall in your kitchen with magnetic paint. Boyle is devoted to recycling and he may have a piece of exactly what you're looking for, or a piece of what you didn't know you were looking for, somewhere in the back. Boyle's cool idea was to use a piece of metal with a baked enamel finish (he has three colors on hand).

Cottage Grove Ave., 77), will fabricate a custom piece of sheet metal for about $90. Larry Boyle, owner of Boyle Exteriors Company (4000 S. He even had a cool idea: 'You could glue fabric to it, like felt.' Call before you go. He will punch screw holes in it and hem it, too, if you like. Ogden Ave., 31), will cut you a four-by-five-foot piece of light-gauge metal for about $45. Jim Brunetti, owner of Avenue Metal Manufacturing Company (1640 W. One thought is to buy a piece of galvanized steel and screw it to a wall in your kitchen, pantry, or wherever you like, and use it as a magnet board. Now to the pressing problem of where to hang your refrigerator art.

More than two percent nickel interferes with what Eng calls iron atoms' 'magnetic moments.' It seems your gorgeous new refrigerator has sacrificed its magnetism for a greater good.

The reason your refrigerator doesn't hold a magnet, according to Peter Eng, a physicist at the University of Chicago, is that different stainless steels contain different proportions of nickel (added to help keep steel from cracking and to allow the addition of more carbon, for strength). We feel your pain-and also your consternation, if you're one of the many people who have stainless steel backsplashes or other surfaces that hold magnets just fine.

Will a magnet stick to stainless steel