I always get mightily confuddled by various steel grades and types. Oh, I have the basics from 304 to 316 down pat, but when our Steve at Steel Strip mentioned to me that he’d started selling small quantities of spring steel I had to scurry off to Wikipedia to find out what spring steel actually was. All we get is this paltry stub:

Spring steel is a low alloy, medium carbon steel with a very high yield strength. This allows objects made of spring steel to return to their original shape despite significant bending or twisting.

Silicon is the key component to most spring steel alloys. An example of a spring steel used for cars would be AISI 9255 (DIN and UNI: 55Si7, AFNOR 55S7), containing 1.50%-1.80% silicon, 0.70%-1.00% manganese and 0.52%-0.60% carbon.

Most spring steels (as used in cars) are hardened and then tempered to about 45 on the Rockwell C-Scale.

According to Machinery’s Handbook, “The spring materials most commonly used include high-carbon spring steels, alloy spring steels, stainless spring steels, copper-base spring alloys, and nickel-base spring alloys.” According to the same, the most widely used spring steel is ASTM A228 (0.80–0.95% carbon) known as “music wire”.

I presume we’re not talking about slinky spring steel?

It makes a change to hear of somebody prepared to service the little guy…..as it were. Here’s Steve’s raison d’etre and combined mission statement:

Whilst steel mills regularly insist on minimum order quantities of up to 5 tons, and stockholders upwards of a ton, we have recognised the need of smaller engineering companies who may require as little as a single sheet to complete a project, or to replace a part in an aging piece of plant.

It can be frustrating and time consuming for an engineer to spend hours on the telephone trying to source small quantities of spring steel, only to find the supplier loses interest the moment he realises the small quantity involved. To be honest it’s as a big a problem often for the supplier as for the customer! Not for us.

So, if you’re looking to buy spring steel in small quantities I’d recommend you go and have a word with Steve over at Steel Strip as he’s a top bloke. Or, you can give him a bell on +44 1952 290313. (Yes, he can ship worldwide.)

Oh, and I can assure you I’m not on any commission. I just like it when people aren’t trying to stiff smaller companies - especially when they happen to be a mate.

Have you had the pleasure as yet of partaking in the new web tv extravaganza that steel behemoth Arcelor Mittal have put together? If the header is to be believed then it could very well be called Inside Transforming Tomorrow.

Not only that but there’s a blog to tickle your fancy as well. It looks fabulous. But, as we all know, looks can often be quite deceptive fellows.

I mean, for a start off there’s that damn pic above. It isn’t some kind of spoof, I can assure you. And neither is the following post that I found: Shop floor Safety audits: we focus on people

Is there anything more rewarding that (sic) helping to save a life? Our colleagues here at the Luxembourg Headquarters had the opportunity to learn some days ago that everyone in our Group can do it! How? Thanks to what we call a ‘shop floor audit’. Let us explain to you how that works.

Seriously, I’m not making this up.

Diving into a freezing lake, or charging into a burning building with little thought to your own personal safety possibly warrants a pat on the back and a couple of column inches in the local paper, but implementing a few health and safety measures to ensure people don’t get squashed by a fork lift truck doesn’t.

At Butler Sheetmetal we’ve saved at least three lives by pointing out that sticking one’s noggin inside the hydroform could cause a few problems.

Anyway, I’m sure once the exuberant upbeat tone of the PR department has run its course there’ll be some right riveting stuff going on…..and I’m not being facetious either.

For the time being, it’s corporate answer to The Day Today.

Anybody shocked by this seemingly vicious rise in iron ore prices?

Aren’t you glad I showed you how to smelt your own yesterday?

It’s time for the Reuters Manufacturing Summit:

Chicago – CEOs and other executives in the manufacturing industry will visit the Reuters bureaus in Chicago to participate in the annual Reuters Manufacturing Summit on February 25-28. During closed on-the-record sessions, summit speakers will discuss the outlook for the manufacturing sector. Exclusive stories from the summit will be posted online at www.reuters.com/summits.

U.S. manufacturing companies, traditionally a cyclical group given to dramatic ups and downs depending on the health of the economy, have made great strides since the last recession to reduce their dependence on cyclical markets — by expanding overseas, investing in new technology, and making their operations more efficient. The current U.S. economic slowdown provides their first major test of how well this strategy has worked.

Reuters will interview a group of manufacturing sector CEOs to give their views on whether sales and profit growth is sustainable, as well as on raw material and labor costs, the role of emerging markets like India and China, the election-year political climate, and their view on the U.S. economy.

Expect to see these and other topics in a package of stories, pictures and videos produced at the Reuters Manufacturing Summit during each summit which can be seen at: http://www.reuters.com/summit/Manufacturing08

RSS SUMMIT FEED
Reuters:
All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. © Reuters 2008

Shrinking market sends Japan Inc buying abroad
Japanese banks take steps overseas, gingerly
Japan needs to overhaul tax system: minister
Foreign bond sellers love Japan
Tokyo Stock Exchange may delay IPO
Dalton to raise $950 mln
Tokyo financial hopes face hurdles big and small
Japan tax overhaul key for corporate tax cut: LDP
GPIF may mull alternative investments
Nomura Asset seeks Asia expansion

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It looks like one of my favourite steel buildings in the history of building stuff out of steel has had a bit of a makeover. The Atomium in Brussels has had a bit of a spit and a polish.

Atomium post-renovation

But it ain’t the only one. According to a recent Euro Inox email, the following have been done-up as well.

Content:
- In renovating the Brussels Atomium, the spheres were made from electropolished stainless steel grade EN 1.4404/AISI316L to ensure long-term low maintenance.
- A pedestrian bridge at Cala Galdana, Menorca, was fully designed in Duplex stainless steel to withstand the high corrosive stress in a coastal location.
- Vauxhall Cross Bus Interchange was clad in pattern-rolled stainless steel to ensure high mechanical resistance.
- Wales Millennium Centre involved electrolytically coloured stainless steel to highlight the dramatic architecture of the building.
- The Milan Trade Fair is a convincing example of the sober elegance of polished stainless steel.

Format:
- PDF Files, colour

Click below to view or download:

Renovation of the Atomium in Brussels (8 pages, 760 KB)
- Dutch: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_132_NL.html
- English: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_132_EN.html
- French: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_132_FR.html
- German: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_132_DE.html

Bridge in Cala Galdana on Menorca (4 pages, 560 KB)
- English: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_131_EN.html
- German: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_131_DE.html
- Spanish: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_131_SP.html

Milan Trade Fair (4 pages, 460 KB)
- English: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_130_EN.html
- German: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_130_DE.html
- Italian: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_130_IT.html

Vauxhall Cross Bus Station in London (6 pages, 665 KB)
- English: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_129_EN.html
- German: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_129_DE.html

Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff (4 pages, 530 KB)
- English: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_128_EN.html
- German: http://www.euro-inox.org/fla_128_DE.html

Vauxhall Cross Bus Interchange, eh? Expect breaking news of us powder coating a new dog dipper bin on Hallam road anytime soon.