On Sun, 14 Jan 2018 14:23:08 -0800 (PST), Andre Jute
wrote:

On Sunday, January 14, 2018 at 7:01:32 PM UTC, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Ferro-chrome ore (which contains about 50-75% chromium), sells for
$2.80/kg (Oct 2017 prices).
http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/ferro-chrome/
while iron ore runs about $0.30/kg.
http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/iron-ore-fines/
Very roughly, that would make 20% Chromium stainless cost about
$5.00/kg, while a simple high carbon steel, would be about 1/10th the
prices of stainless.

Wrong viewpoint, I think, Jeff.

Please note the "Very roughly" prefix, which acts as repudiation of
responsibility and disclaimer should I have screwed up the math. In
this case, I totally ignored any material or labor costs incurred
beyond the base materials. I also lacked a usable price comparison
between finished frames in steel and high strength stainless steel.

Observably bikes in bicycle-type butted tubes of stainless steel
don't cost ten or however many times as much as a bike in other
alloys of steel made to the same pattern by the same maker.

True. Please change "would be about 1/10th the price of stainless" to
"would be about 1/10th the materials cost of stainless".

I went into this when I was trying to get my smalltube frame
design built, when I discovered that stainless could in fact be
a cheap option compared to some aeronautics-grade mild steels.

Hmmm... sounds like a good idea. You could then advertise the small
diameter tubing as "low aerodynamic drag".

Incidentally, I've recently taken up knife sharpening, which led me to
knife making. That has forced me to do some reading on metallurgy,
heat treating, machining practices, etc. At this point, it's all a
big muddle to me, but I'm slowing beginning to sort things out. Oddly,
much has changed in the last half century.

(1) There was a third maker of stainless tube sets for bicycles
just starting up about ten, twelve years ago when I was taking
an interest. I don't know whether they ever made much of a mark.

Ummm... Columbus XCr perhaps?
http://www.columbustubi.com/eng/3_3.htm

The only thing about German steel bike I don't like is their
virtue-signalling, Gaia butt-kissing, waterbased paint, though
in practice it has worked well for my bikes, which live in a
heated space and hardly ever see loose gravel. I like hard,
chip resistant, oven-baked paints.

The ecologically correct replacement for VoC (volatile organic
chemicals) is power coating the bicycle frame:
https://www.missionbicycle.com/blog/oversimplified-powder-coat-vs-paint
Powder coating can handle considerable abuse. For small parts, you
can melt the power in a toaster oven. The hardware and powder are
commonly available:
https://www.eastwood.com/hotcoat-powder-coating.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/10-30-psi-powder-coating-system-94244.html

Once a hotrodder, always a Duco-lover.

Yeah, I miss lacquer paints.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacquer#Nitrocellulose_lacquers
However, acrylic enamel is a tolerable auto paint substitute,
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558