User:Sjrountree/Hand tool, stainless steel

Stainless steel hand tools were developed in the 1990's in response to demands for hand tools that were suitable for use in critical environment(needs page) applications. A critical environment is one into which it is undesireable to introduce foreign particulate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulate). Normal carbon steel hand tools are manufactured from non-homogeneus materials, eg carbon steel with a black oxide or chrome plate finish. In the cleaning processes that are necessary for tool usage in critical environments, the chrome plate finish will deteriorate, coming loose from the base material therefore beginning to generate particulate. Stainless steel is a homogeneous material(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogeneous)that has been in use for medical and dental instruments(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgical_stainless_steel) since about 1930, withstanding thousands of steam sterilization cycles without deterioration of the surface or the generation of particulate. This same technology was applied to the design, specification and manufacture of stainless steel hand tools. The use of stainless steel tools avoids the transfer of normal iron or steel particles from the tools to the stainless steel components.

Wikipedia references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contamination_control http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleanroom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contamination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_tool http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogeneous http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgical_stainless_steel

Web references: http://www.cartech.com/techarticles.aspx?id=1594&terms=*stainless+steel+hand+tools* http://www.steritool.com/whitepaper/wp_sop.htm