stainless?

[RAPPLEBY2000]

i would like some stainles steal messtins, i think i have found some modern RAF issue ones, the metal is very shiney, not dull is this a good indication of steel rather than aluminium.

dumb question, but i just want a second opinion.

[Tantalus]

Take a magnet with you :)

Tant

[Les Marshall]

I'm in the RAF and I can assure you that there are no stainles steel ones, just ones where someone has put a shine on them for the sarge to have a shave :naughty:

[RAPPLEBY2000]

chears, for that, just concerned about altzheimers which can be caused by using aluminium cooking vessels especialy when boiling fruit!

i'll try the magnet idea. :biggthump

[Martyn]

chears, for that, just concerned about altzheimers which can be caused by using aluminium cooking vessels especialy when boiling fruit!

i'll try the magnet idea. :biggthump

I think that the claimed link between aluminium cooking pots and alzhiemers has been medically discredited.

[zen]

Hi All,

I'm no expert but I do work with steel sometimes, and I just thought I'd let you know that not all grades of steel will respond to a magnet.

Generally Martensitic (Chrome and Carbon) steel will respond but most Austenitic (Chrome and Nickel) Stainless steel won't.

Hope that helps,

Zen.

[Tantalus]

ummmmmm

not really zen

what would mess tins be made out of?

would they even be hardened ?

or just stamped out of stainless sheets :?:

Tant

[zen]

Hope I didn't confuse things too much. I may know a little bit about metal, but don't know much about mess tins :?:

Assuming it doesn't respond to a magnet, the only way I know to tell the difference between steel and polished aluminium is by feel and sight. Aluminium is only about one third the density of steel and therefore feels one third of the weight for any given volume, but it's not as strong so tends to be made a bit thicker.

It's still worth doing the magnet test, but it's only conclusive if the metal responds.

It's not as much help as I'd like to give but it's the best I can do on the internet :biggthump

[RAPPLEBY2000]

ok now i'm really confused! :shock:

one thing i'm aware of is the colour.

aluminium tends to have a whitish/grey hue (as oposed to silver that has a creamy hue).
aluminium when freshly cut is very shiney like silver foil but will oxidize(rust) after a while to a dull white/grey.

the messtins in question have obviously been well used, but are not dull.
the metal has an almost mirror finish that i think aluminium would not have!

i am comparing to a wellknown alu brand such as cheap copy messtins or trangia, all the polising in the world would not make my trangia shine like the messtins in question!

i was under the inmpression that the army was promoting the use of the "crusader cup" due to the Alu/Altziemers link with messtins, and that prehaps the messtins i have found were of a new issue/design.

any ideas?

or am i safer to go for a different cooking pot? :?:

[Carcajou Garou]

I am not sure if I have posted this info before but here goes, boil out any Stainless Steel pot, pan, utensiles that are new as the first boiling will leach out a good part of the heavy nickle that would otherwise go into your food, drink and be injested by you. Heavy metals stay in you for a long time :shock:
just a thought

[Tantalus]

Tin foil is aluminium

it has a shiny side and a dull side

restoring a shine to aluminium can be done with steel wool / brillo pads

i would still give the magnet a go

also see how easily it bends, steel is stronger and heavier than the same thickness of aluminium

aluminium will bend fairly easily and bend back just as easily

a bit like the difference between a tin can (think baked beans) and an aluminium drinks tin

Tant

[dchinell]

If you rub your thumb insistently against an uncoated aluminum surface, the oxide will rub onto your thumb, leaving it black. -- Bear

[Tantalus]

aluminium oxide is white :shock:

http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclop edia/Aluminium_oxide


Appearance White crystalline powder or solid

Tant

[dchinell]

Then maybe it's not the oxide that gets onto one's thumb. Whatever it is, your thumb turns black. -- Bear

[zen]

You could try a hardness test.........

With a sharp pointed knife it should be fairly easy to put a deep scratch in Aluminium and you should really feel the knife dig in, but with stainless it should only leave a surface scratch.

If you don't want to damage the mess tins then use a really small knife like a scalpel on the bottom of the tin, or maybe try to take a small shaving off the edge.

Gotta try the magnet first though :wink:

[Keith_Beef]

Look for marks on the underside.

18/10 or 18/8 mean 18% Chrome and 10% or 8% Nickel.

Or look for a procurement or contract number (whatever they're called these days) and search the Ministry of Defence web site for references.
Here's an example:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%22910-5285%22&btnG=Search&meta=
look at the 987KByte PDF document thrown up from the MoD site... ;)

Try the magnet test.

Although it's true that there are non-magnetic stainless steels around, I've only encountered them rarely.

Keith.

[leon-1]

In thirteen years in the british army I never came across a set of stainless mess tins. I have however come across mirror polished mess tins where people have used varying grades of scotch brite to get them gleaming for inspections, I have also seen the likes of brasso / glitto :shock: used on mess tins to make them like mirrors also :-)