Materials
Seven materials, and how each one fails.
Every part in the catalogue is made from one of these. The useful part is not what each material is good at — it is how each one lets go, because that is what decides which one you should be reaching for.
Zinc-Plated Steel
Medium-carbon steel with a clear zinc plate. The default general-purpose fastener: strong, cheap and adequately corrosion-resistant indoors. The plating is sacrificial — it protects the steel until it is scratched through.
5 parts in this material — Hex Bolt Assortment, Washer & Lock Washer Set, Steel Parts Tray, Stacking Parts Drawers, Oil Can, Filled.
- Outdoors
- No — indoors and dry only
- Strength
- High. The general-purpose default
- How it fails
- The plating is sacrificial. Scratch through it and rust starts there
Stainless Steel
A2 (304) austenitic stainless. Genuinely corrosion-resistant rather than plated, so it survives outdoors and in damp. Slightly softer than plated carbon steel and it will gall if you drive it dry and fast.
2 parts in this material — Socket Cap Screw Set, Machinist's Rule.
- Outdoors
- Yes — genuinely corrosion-resistant
- Strength
- Moderate. Softer than plated carbon steel
- How it fails
- Galling. Driven fast and dry into stainless it cold-welds and seizes
Solid Brass
Machined from solid CZ121 bar, not cast and plated. Left unlacquered, so it arrives bright and darkens to a warm brown over weeks. Non-sparking and non-magnetic.
5 parts in this material — Brass Wood Screw Assortment, Brass Compression Fitting Set, Brass Pipe Union, Brass Hose Bib, Brass Fitting Kit.
- Outdoors
- Yes — will not rust, will darken
- Strength
- Low. Much weaker than steel
- How it fails
- Shears rather than bending. A brass screw snaps its head off
Forged Steel
Drop-forged chrome-vanadium, heat-treated and satin chrome plated. Forging aligns the grain around the jaw, which is why a forged wrench deforms rather than shatters when it finally fails.
4 parts in this material — Combination Wrench Set, Adjustable Spanner, Wire Brush, Bench Starter Kit.
- Outdoors
- Chrome plate resists rust; chips do not
- Strength
- Very high, with the grain around the jaw
- How it fails
- Cracks suddenly once overloaded. Never extend the handle
Oil-Tanned Leather
Full-grain hide, oil-tanned so it stays supple and sheds water. It scuffs readily and the scuffs burnish out with a thumb. Darkens with handling and does not go back.
1 part in this material — Leather Tool Roll.
- Outdoors
- Sheds a shower, not a downpour
- Strength
- Tough and flexible; scuffs burnish out
- How it fails
- Heat. Dried near a radiator it goes hard and cracks permanently
Waxed Canvas
Heavy cotton duck, paraffin-waxed. Water-shedding rather than waterproof, and it creases permanently where it folds — that crease pattern is how a bag ends up looking like yours.
1 part in this material — Waxed Canvas Tool Bag.
- Outdoors
- Water-shedding, not waterproof
- Strength
- Very abrasion-resistant
- How it fails
- Washing. Detergent strips the wax and it cannot be fully restored
Cast Iron
Grey iron, sand-cast and machined on the working faces. Enormously rigid and completely unforgiving: it does not bend under overload, it cracks.
1 part in this material — Bench Vice.
- Outdoors
- Bare machined faces flash-rust in days
- Strength
- Enormously rigid under compression
- How it fails
- Cracks without warning under shock. It does not bend first
The two that catch people out
Stainless galls — driven fast and dry into another stainless thread it cold-welds and seizes solid halfway in, and then it comes out with a drill. Go slowly and use anti-seize.
And cast iron does not bend before it breaks. A steel tool overloaded will deform and warn you; the vice will simply crack. That is why hitting it, or extending the handle for leverage, is in the cautions on its page.
Full care instructions per part are on the care page and in the record on every product page. Questions: help@olympexsupply.com.