So i want to blacksmith a set of earrings.
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im currently a welding student at my local community college and ive gotten pretty decent at hot forging steels. i have stretched earlobes and i want to make myself a set of rings in 3/4 inch diameter. essentially my question is if hot forging 316l surgical stainless steel will reduce its resistance to corrosion(i dont want my lobes to get infected). basically i want to take a 3/4 inch piece of round stock, shape it into a circle(pic related), anneal it, polish it, sterilize it, and stick it in my ear. is this a bad idea or can it be done?
Smithing things that are that small is difficult and a high skill task, but certainly doable. Especially if doing a simple shape like it sounds you are.
The steel surface that's exposed to air will oxidise while heated, and the iron oxide layer will not be corrosion resistant. You'll want to polish that back to bare stainless when you are done forging. That should be the only corrosion issue.
>>933439
My blacksmith friend has just what you are describing. To make something truly corrosion resistant you need to clean it with acid (but can't recall what).
And if you are working with ordinary steel in the same room as stainless there will be dust which again will rust the stainless. Take it out for cleaning and use tools dedicated for stainless when you clean it.