Information About AR400, AR500, A514, Manganese Steel, Armor Plate + More
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Steps For A Custom Fabrication Project
More often than not, projects in the steel industry are not one size fits all. In fact, it’s pretty rare when that happens. While Clifton Steel can provide simple products or steel plate, we specialize in customizing fabrication solutions, big and small. Here’s a look at what steps to expect when working with us for…
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Manganese Steel FAQ
What is manganese steel? Manganese steel is a steel alloy containing 11-14% manganese. It’s often referred to as Hadfield steel, or Hadfield grade, as Sir Robert Hadfield discovered it in 1882. Manganese steel is non-magnetic and is less likely to rust than carbon steel. What makes manganese steel special? It has an extremely high impact…
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How To Extend The Life of Your Hammers
In our industry, the biggest money waster is downtime. Nobody likes it, nobody wants it, but it exists and we have to deal with it. Just because we have to deal with it, however, doesn’t mean we can’t do everything in our power to minimize it. Here are some common practices to extend the life…
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Personal Protection Bullet Proof Boards
Safe Place Solution is a sister company to Clifton Steel, focusing on products that are designed for personal use to keep you safe if a threat arises. We offer bulletproof steel tiles, called WonderTile™, as well as our bulletproof presentation boards. Watch our video or read below to learn more about how the WonderBoard™ offers…
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Differences Between 4140 Steel and 4150 Steel
The naming structure Based on the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers), steels that have a naming structure of 41XX are informally known as chromoly steel, or it is a chromium-molybdenum steel. These steels are usually much harder and tougher than normal carbon steel. Alloying elements allow the steel to be heat treated to obtain stronger physical properties. The…
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AR400 Steel Vs AR500 Steel
Abrasion Resistant steel is one of our most popular products at Clifton Steel. With 4-5 different options, how do you know which option is best suited for your project? The easiest way is to talk to a Clifton Steel representative, but another option is to learn about what it is and what the differences are. What is AR…
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Grades Of Steel
What does “Grade of steel” mean? Grades are used to differentiate between types of steel based on their chemical compositions and properties. There are standards set nationally and internationally so you can be sure you’re getting the same thing, no matter where you get it from. How many grades of steel are there? According…
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Personal Protection Bullet Proof Tiles
It’s more important than ever to have a safe space to hide in the event of an emergency. We’re talking about schools, offices, retails areas, even homes. Threats can come out of nowhere when you’re least expecting them. Safe Place Solutions (a sister company of Clifton Steel) has created a mountable bullet proof tile to…
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Hot Rolled Steel Vs. Cold Rolled Steel
What’s the Difference between Hot Rolled Steel and Cold Rolled Steel? Hot rolled, cold rolled, cold drawn, cold finished? A lot of similar words you may hear, but what are they and what’s the difference? Many people call into Clifton Steel asking our veteran sales staff these very same questions. In short, the difference between…
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What Is Steel Plate?
What is steel plate? Steel plate is a plate of metal, specifically steel, that can be cut and manufactured into a more elaborate product. Steel plates come in a range of thicknesses, and can be manufactured to a length or width that you need. There are common sizes that you’ll find, such as 48”x96” or…
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Clif-Clad Chromium Carbide Overlay Commonly Asked Questions
Clifton steel specializes in wear products designed to prolong the life of steel in both equipment and fabrications. Our premier product, Clif-Clad, offers superior protection in a variety of applications where excessive wear is a factor. In our video, we address some of the most commonly asked questions about chromium carbide overlay. How does clif-clad…
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Tensile Strength of Steel vs Yield Strength of Steel
What’s the Difference Between Yield Strength and Tensile Strength? Knowing both the yield and tensile strength is important because they each have an impact on the production and use of steel (and many other materials, but we will focus on the steel). So, what’s the difference between yield strength and tensile strength? The biggest difference…
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What Are The Steel Cutting Options?
Very rarely does steel come in the shape or size needed. The plate is cut using one of the various methods available, usually thermal or erosion cutting. When steel is cut using a thermal process, heat is used to melt the metal. This is also known as burning. Burning has four major methods to accomplish…
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Welding Wire: FAQ
WELDING WIRE: FAQ – WHAT IS WELDING WIRE? A welding wire is a slim metallic rod that is ignited to generate a heated arc for the purpose of fusing metal pieces together (welding) by rendering the wire soft via hammering or compressing under an applied heat source. Or to put it simply, the wire is the medium that is used to fuse tw..
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Flatness In Steel
So, what exactly are we talking about when we mention flatness in steel? It’s simply the amount of space between the plate and a perfectly flat surface. One way it is measured is by placing the sheet on a flat surface and determining the distance from the surface to the highest point of the sheet, then…
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How is Steel Made?
Items we use every day come from steel- paperclips, tools, and cars to name a few. Sometimes you may wonder how those items are made, but have you ever wondered how the steel itself is made? Sir Henry Bessemer developed the first process for affordably manufacturing steel in 1856 called the Bessemer process. This process has become highly popular…
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Common Steel Industry Terms
We put together a short list of terms often used in the steel industry as a quick reference guide. While this does not give you the full meaning of the term, we hope it will provide some assistance while navigating our site and this industry! AR – Abrasion Resistant. A type of steel that is tougher…
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Anneal, Normalize, & Stress Relieve
In order to understand what annealing, normalizing and stress relieving is, we first need to understand what heat treatment is. The heat treat process is used to change physical or chemical properties of a material through austenitizing (heating material to a high temperature), quenching (quick cooling of material), and tempering (reheating plate at a relatively…
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Learn About Quenching & Tempering
Steel is strong to begin with, but sometimes it’s necessary to make it even stronger. One of the common treatments to achieve this is quenching and tempering. This is a process that strengthens and hardens iron-based alloys by heating, rapidly cooling, and reheating. When steel is heated above a certain point, the grain (molecular) structures…
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What is Hardness Vs. Hardenability
Two words commonly heard in the metal industry are hardness and hardenability. Derived from the same root, but a very different meaning. Hardness is a characteristic of the steel, while hardenability is describing an ability of the steel. In order to understand hardness, we first need to go through the process of determining this characteristic.…
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11 Elements Found in Steel & Why They’re There
Making steel is just like baking- each type has its own recipe and variations to get what you’re looking for. Sticking to the recipe is key in baking. If you add too much flour, your cake will be dry. If you add an extra egg, it’ll be richer. Think of steel in that way, except…
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Thermal Cracking & How To Avoid It
If you live in an area where the weather is a bit unpredictable, but you can always count on the winters being cold, then this post is for you. If you don’t, then it’s still for you because your steel might be coming from a cold area. In Cleveland, we have been working with days…
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