Hot Rolled plate is notorious for quality variations including defects in the surface such as pitting, laminations and mill lines. Before polishing the ‘skin’ is removed using a pre-grinding process that removes the surface scale and the majority of the surface defects.
Over the last fifteen years or so the overall quality of hot rolled material has improved due to investment in the stainless steel mills ad with companies like us investing in high tech equipment this means the final finish generally looks similar to that produced on thin sheet.
Polishing hot rolled plate to very fine finishes means that more and more it is an attractive substrate to work with for projects that require a low surface reading. For the architectural industry we recommend a 1K finish which measures less than 0.5µm and thus helps to reduce contamination and discolouring.
Stainless steel is an ideal choice for sculptures both in urban and more gentle environments and can produce some stunning results.
