This year we have invested in a new machine for finishing our stainless steel products. Previously our options for removing weld burn from stainless were somewhat limited. We could either polish the metal with abrasives or we could use the industry standard, weld pickling paste which is a gel mix of hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid which can seriously burn you but is also poisonous though skin contact. Not only did this put our workers at considerable risk despite full [PPE] being used, but the rinse water can be extremely harmful to the environment. Our new machine uses an electric current and phosphoric acid solution to clean the welds. You will find phosphoric acid on the ingredients list of lots of your favourite tangy or sour foods and in various toothpastes. Not only does this massively reduce the risk to our workers, but it is a lot kinder to the environment.

This machine also has a second function… it can darken stainless steel! Using custom made templates we can apply stencilling permanently to your stainless steel product. It works by forming a black oxide layer on the surface of the metal. Where this differs from paint is that the oxide layer is part of the original metal unlike paint which is a layer applied on top of the metal, leaving it at more risk of being damaged or peeling off over time.