Galvanising, Powder Coating or Paint: What Protects Steel Longest
Mild steel rusts. That is the trade-off for its strength and price, and the coating is what stands between a gate and its slow return to iron oxide. The three common options work in genuinely different ways, and the difference matters most where the air carries salt. Galvanising Hot-dip galvanising immerses steel in molten zinc, […]
Aluminium Window Frames: Repair or Replace?
Aluminium frames last a long time, which is why replacing one often feels premature. Sometimes it is. Other times a repair is money spent on something that will fail again within a year. Here is how the decision usually breaks down. Worth Repairing Failed corner joints. The mitred corners are the weak point on most […]
Cast Iron or Mild Steel? How to Tell Before You Weld
Welding cast iron as though it were mild steel is the single most common reason a repair fails. The two need completely different approaches, and telling them apart before starting saves a wasted job. Why It Matters So Much Cast iron holds far more carbon than steel – typically two to four percent against well […]
304 or 316 Stainless: What Coastal Air Does to the Wrong Choice
Most stainless sold in South Africa is grade 304. It is the default, it is cheaper, and for the majority of indoor uses it is entirely appropriate. Within a few kilometres of the Atlantic, that calculation changes. The Actual Difference Both grades are austenitic stainless steels with similar chromium and nickel content. The distinction is […]
Why Stainless Steel Welds Rust
Stainless steel is not supposed to rust. When it does – and specifically when it rusts in a line along a weld – the material is rarely the problem. Something happened during fabrication. How Stainless Actually Resists Corrosion Stainless contains chromium, which reacts with oxygen to form a thin, invisible chromium oxide layer across the […]
Can You Weld Aluminium to Steel?
The short answer is no – not with conventional welding. It is one of the most common questions we get, and the reason is worth understanding, because it also explains why some joints fail months after they were made. Two Problems at Once The first is melting point. Aluminium melts at around 660°C, steel at […]
Why Aluminium Welds Crack — and How to Prevent It
A cracked aluminium weld is rarely bad luck. It is almost always one of three causes, and all three are preventable. The Oxide Layer Aluminium forms an oxide layer the moment it meets air. That layer protects the metal underneath – it is the reason aluminium resists corrosion – but it melts at roughly three […]
Sheet Metal Thickness: What the Gauge Numbers Actually Mean
Sheet metal is one of the few materials where the numbering system works backwards: the higher the gauge, the thinner the metal. It catches people out constantly, and ordering the wrong one is an expensive mistake. Why Higher Gauge Means Thinner Metal The system dates back to wire drawing, where the number counted how many […]
How to Read a Steel Fabrication Quote
Two quotes for what looks like the same gate can differ by a wide margin, and the cheaper one is not automatically the better deal. Usually the gap is not profit margin – it is a difference in what is actually being supplied. Here is what to look at before comparing numbers. Material Grade and […]