well color me confused:
Stainless Steel - What It Is
Stainless steel in its simplest terms is steel that has been alloyed or
"combined with" other elements that give it more beneficial properties
than it would otherwise have on its own.
Two of these important elements that you'll see (or should see) on
specs for these sinks are chromium and nickel. They enhance the quality
of the steel, giving it strength and corrosion resistance.
Stainless sinks are usually labeled with the amount of chromium and
nickel contained in the steel. It's usually designated by a ratio like
"18:8" or something equivalent. This particular example means there is
18% chromium and 8% nickel in the stainless steel. The higher the
percentage of these elements that are present, the better the grade of
stainless steel.
The grade is specified by its "series" number. Most stainless steel
sinks are usually in the "300" series, usually 304 to be specific. This
is a good quality steel with 18:8 to 20:10 chromium/nickel content.
The important point in all this is that by understanding some of the
key characteristics of stainless steel, you'll be better able to judge
quality sinks when comparing various brands and their specifications.
Gauge (Thickness Of The Material)
"Gauge" refers to the thickness of the metal used to make the sink. The
important point to remember relative to gauge is that smaller gauge
numbers mean thicker material. Yes, it's counter-intuitive but that's
the way it was established long ago.
Stainless sink thicknesses ranges from 16 gauge (thicker) to 22 gauge
(thin). The benefit of thicker material is that it's more resistant to
dings and dents, is less "noisy" than a thinner gauge sink and more
robust in terms of handling things like the vibration associated with a
garbage disposal. Good quality stainless steel sinks are usually 16 to
18 gauge."
i was going by the 18:10 etc. always thought that was gauge and in that case larger is better. something to remember.
Q