What Is Stainless Steel Electropolishing?

Machining stainless steel, especially 300 and 400 series stainless steel, can leave parts with a wide array of imperfections: microburrs, microcracks, free iron, stains, heat tint, oxide scale, and other surface defects that can compromise the fit, finish, function, and durability of stainless steel parts.

Electropolishing—also known as electrochemical polishing, electrofinishing, electolytic polishing, and e polishing—eliminates stainless steel surface defects by removing a microscopically precise layer of surface material, to tolerances as low as +/-.0001″, depending on the alloy, leaving a lasting bright finish. This degree of precision and consistency, along with the ability to remove a variety of surface imperfections in one process, is why electropolishing is so often specified for critical metal parts – with 30 times more corrosion resistance than passivation.

Electropolishing also eliminates the need for mechanical metal finishing processes like hand deburring, tumbling, pickling, and cleaning.

Electropolishing vs. Passivation Technical Guide

Electropolishing vs. Passivation Technical Guide
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How Electropolishing Works

Electropolishing of Stainless Steel Before & After

Electropolishing Before & After

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Medical Device Manufacturing

Medical Device Manufacturing

From implantable devices to surgical instruments, electropolishing is a single-process treatment that results in biocompatible, safe and ultra clean parts.

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Aerospace

Aerospace

We offer aerospace vendors and original equipment manufacturers our signature metal finishing services to increase fatigue-resistance for their metal parts, rendering them capable of withstanding the stress and corrosion that comes with long-term use.

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Pharmaceutical

Pharmaceutical

Our strict adherence to industry standards ensures that pharmaceutical components are electropolished in accordance with ASTM B912 and ASME BPE specifications. These products are clean and smooth, corrosion resistant and contaminant free.

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Automotive

Automotive

Corrosion resistance and microfinish improvement are essential for critical automotive parts, making electropolishing an increasingly beneficial option for automakers.

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Consumer Appliance

Consumer Appliance

Our metal finishing services help increase corrosion resistance for these parts, and by removing the outermost layer of metal withelectropolishing the durability and longevity of these appliance components is increased.

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Food & Beverage

Food & Beverage

Electropolishing materials for this industry eliminates the buildup of bacterial biofilms, as well as keeping the equipment free of contaminants like Salmonella. Electropolishing delivers the level of sanitation required by a number of regulatory agencies.

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Hydraulics & Pneumatics

Hydraulics & Pneumatics

From robotics to mobile equipment, the uses of electropolishing in the hydraulics and pneumatics industry are many. By helping prevent premature part failure, electropolishing reduces downtime and increases the life cycle of these components.

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Electronics

Electronics

Improving conductivity and performance is just one benefit electropolishing offers for electronics parts. The surface finish is improved by as much as 50%, removing imperfections from the material without material removal.

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Electropolishing, Passivation and Metal Surface Analytics Blog

Precision Finishing for Carbon Steel

Carbon steel is widely favored in manufacturing for its affordability, hardness and ability to undergo heat-treatment to increase durability. Used in gears, springs, and other critical metal parts, it’s known for versatility and reliability.

AS9100:2016: Quality Assurance in Aerospace

Precision and reliability are non-negotiable standards in the aerospace industry, where every component must meet strict requirements for performance, durability, and safety.

Metal Finishing Precision with JCM-7000 SEM

With the addition of a fourth-generation tabletop Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Able’s state-of-the-art suite of analytic tools continues to grow to meet the requirements of high quality finishing for increasingly sophisticated metal parts.

Passivation for Stainless Steel Parts

Stainless steel alloys are prized by manufacturers across industries for their durability and corrosion resistance. Unfortunately, when free iron isn’t removed from the surface of stainless steel parts after machining or stamping, the inherent benefits of stainless alloys diminish: contaminated…