Food Grade Stainless Steel Tube Drilling

Stainless steel is a popular material in the food industry. In fact there are specific grades of the material specifically for many of the applications here. This is because of the higher risk of corrosion and wear. However, working with these can be trickier. It is vital to adapt them with care to ensure it does not compromise the material. At Multiform Tubes we have a lot of experience with this. In fact, we are one of the best providers of food grade stainless steel tube drilling and alterations.

Properties

Food grade stainless steels have very useful characteristics that make them perfect for dealing with foods and liquids. As we said above they have excellent resistance to corrosion plus wear and tear. On top of this they have a much better heat resistance. This can be vital, especially if the foodstuff or liquids are hot.

Grades

The most common grades of stainless steel for food use are in the 300 series, including 306 and 304. They each have different levels of chromium and nickel. For example there are grades such as 18/8 with 18% chromium and 8% nickel respectively.

Another grade you may encounter is 18/0. This is actually from the 400 series rather than the 300. Here there is only a negligible amount of nickel. This type of stainless steel is magnetic so it is great for storage utensils.

There is also 200 series stainless steel. Again this is food grade but has lower corrosion resistance than other grades. This is because the alloy is manganese rather than nickel.

Pipework in the food industry tends to be 304 or 316 grade stainless steel. This is because both materials are highly resistant to corrosion.

Altering the tubes

The thing about stainless steel is it is tricky to work with. It hardens as you adapt it, meaning you need to be precise and careful not to damage the metal or your tooling. When it comes to tubes you also need to make sure the pressure is not so high that it deforms the tube.

At Multiform we can offer the most reliable food grade stainless steel tube drilling. Our team have the right equipment and a huge amount of experience. We drill holes with great care to protect the tubing. We also finish them so they are smooth and ready to use.

Clients love working with us because we have such a great reputation for quality. In addition, we can create tubing for almost any use. This includes pipelines for food and pipe assemblies for different equipment. As well as drilling we can offer tube bending, end forming, and more so clients only have to work with us.