Metals That Can Be Electropolished

Electropolishing is used to remove surface materials off of other various materials such as a variety of alloys. There are several advantages and benefits that are associated with electropolishing. When an alloy goes through the electropolishing process, it improves the corrosion resistance, repairs surface finish, makes the material easier to clean, and gives the material a striking finish. Most metals can be electropolished successfully, however, the best results are obtained with metals that have fine grain boundaries that are free of non-metallic inclusions and seams, such as electropolished stainless steel. Those metals having a high content of silicon, lead or sulfur are usually troublesome.

COMMERCIALLY ELECTROPOLISHED METALS INCLUDE:

• Stainless Steel 

• Low and High Carbon Steels

• Tool Steels

• High-Temperature Alloys (Molybdenum, Nimonic, Waspaloy, Tungsten)

• Aluminum

• Titanium

• Copper

• Kovar

• Cupronickel

• Inconel

• Brass

• Columbium

• Bronze

• Leaded Steel (Low-Lead)

• Nickel Silver

• Beryllium

• Monel

• Vanadium

• Hastelloy

• Tantalum

• Beryllium Copper

• Silver and Gold

Listed above are metals that can be electropolished, but only in large production runs and in controlled environments. This is due to the sometimes-costly set-up, tooling and special environmental and safety equipment requirements associated with many of these processes.

Needing electropolishing but don’t see the metal listed above? We will help you find the perfect metal finishing process for your application. Contact S.S. Electro Bright today for all electropolishing questions and the industry’s best metal finishing services including passivation, metal pickling, and electropolishing.