Stainless Steel, Brass, or Aluminum: Whats the best material for a mech?

[Arnie H]

I don't know much about metals, how do stainless steel, brass, and aluminum rank in terms of mod contruction?

Which is most durable, hardest, particularly the 510 connection threading.

Thanks.

Also, any titanium or Chrome mechs?

 

[dw'struth]

Out of those three SS is definitely the strongest, and brass is probably the most conductive. SS is very hard. Just try drilling a new hole in something like an Igo! I went through 5 drill bits! The fact that the bits were relatively small didn't help, but still....

 

[Arnie H]

So is brass stronger than aluminum? Like what would you want your 510 connection to be made of? I have heard aluminum, because it is softer can have issues with the 510 connection.

 

[Chas F.]

Mating different materials can be problem. I'd keep both materials the same and SS is good if it's manufactured right. Brass is harder than aluminum.

 

[Chas F.]

Out of those three SS is definitely the strongest, and brass is probably the most conductive. SS is very hard. Just try drilling a new hole in something like an Igo! I went through 5 drill bits! The fact that the bits were relatively small didn't help, but still....

For SS, low speed, slow feed. But small drill bits are gonna break no matter what.

 

[tj99959]

Actually aluminum is the best conductor of those three. However aluminum has it's own set of problems, That's why there is NOALOX and anodizing, also aluminum is the softest of the three.

A combination of materials works best rather than using any one of the three for the entire PV. It's all in the how and where different materials are used.

 

[Oomee]

Adamantium , Unobtanium or Mythril
Failing those three , these would be excellent :

Ultra-Voxinium
DuranDuranium
DanDareium
Di-Lithium
Geranium
Dark Matter
Octarine
Sapient pearwood
GoodWood (festival of speed variant)
Heavy Metal
Death Metal
Slightly Mental

 

[Mitey F]

I don't know much about metals, how do stainless steel, brass, and aluminum rank in terms of mod contruction?

Which is most durable, hardest, particularly the 510 connection threading.

Thanks.

Also, any titanium or Chrome mechs?

It should also be noted that you don't "make things" out of chrome. It is a plating technique. A "chrome mod" is not a mod made of chrome, it's a mod PLATED with chrome.

 

[Arnie H]

It should also be noted that you don't "make things" out of chrome. It is a plating technique. A "chrome mod" is not a mod made of chrome, it's a mod PLATED with chrome.

Thanks. I thought there was a metal called chromium out of which you could fashion things.

 

[mentaleeill]

i like the feel of a ss mod best. it just feels heavier/ more solid.

 

[dhomes]

For conductivty you'd ideally have a mod made out of 99.99% silver, but it would be prohibitive cost wise

Failing that, copper

Electrical resistivity and conductivity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The best next thing, and it's something i have been planning, all brass with 99% silver plating

For endurance, well, steel or titanium

Electrical resistivity and conductivity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[volume control]

They are all great choices. Brass is EXTREMELY hard, and the 2nd best conductor of the 3. I think the biggest and only downside to brass is it will tarnish rapidly, so you may want to polish your device frequently.

SS is low maintenance, but the worst conductor. Also a very strong metal. SS does not tarnish easily, but you may want an SS model with brass battery pins to help with the connection a little bit

Aluminum is the best conductor of the 3 but very soft. Not likely to tarnish, but the contacts tend to build up, so if you do not clean the contact points frequently it will lose performance. However a lot of aluminum mods tend to have brass pins which help significantly with this. The biggest downside to aluminum is the 510 connection, even the lightest of tightening and you will wear out your 510 threads. First they get a little wobble, then they eventually become unusable. Aluminum IS however extremely lightweight, which makes it easy to carry around.

A good mixture i think would be cool, aluminum body, SS or brass 510 threading, and silver pins would make for a mean mod out of the box. However many still prefer a mod made completely of SS or brass, and even the aluminum body is prone to scratching/damage.

 

[Mitey F]

Thanks. I thought there was a metal called chromium out of which you could fashion things.

There is, and chrome is just a very very thin layer of chromium which is applied over other metals (they plate with nickel first, which gives chrome its shine) for both durability and aesthetics. Chromium is very expensive though, and working with it typically involves very toxic chemicals.