Tolerance is a tolerance recognized by the stainless steel industry that allows length or thickness deviations within a certain range. This is a very important term in the sale or application of stainless steel coils. So, what does “tolerance” mean in stainless steel? I believe many people will encounter such problems when consulting the price of stainless steel.

    We will introduce tolerances from the following three points: 1. The definition of tolerance; 2. The existence of tolerance; 3. Positive tolerance and negative tolerance & large tolerance and small tolerance.


       1. What is tolerance?

    The thickness tolerance of stainless steel means that the actual thickness of the stainless steel material rolled by the steel mill cannot reach the theoretical thickness. For example, if you want to make a material with a thickness of 3 mm, the actual rolled material will be 2.8 mm, which is the tolerance.


       2. Existence of tolerance?

    This is a very important term. Tolerance is the accepted allowable variation in length or thickness. Because in the production process of medium and thick plates, it is very difficult due to various reasons. For example, during the rolling process of a steel rolling mill, the machine's rolls are slightly deformed due to heating, resulting in a thickness deviation of the rolled stainless steel, which is generally thicker in the middle and thinner on both sides. The actual thickness often does not reach the theoretical thickness. For example, a 6mm board is only 5.6mm. This is the tolerance. When buying and selling boards, calculations are usually based on theoretical thickness. This is why the theoretical price is lower than the weighted price. The reason is that the tolerances are divided into sizes and prices are different. Large tolerances are cheap. For example, if it is 8 mm, if it is lower than 7.2, it is a large tolerance. If the price drops, it will not be a product that meets predetermined standards. Usually when we buy and sell stainless steel, we calculate the weight based on the theoretical thickness, that's why the theoretical weight is heavier than the actual weight.


     3. Positive and negative tolerances

    Domestic tolerances are usually negative tolerances, although there are positive tolerances, but they are rare.


    4. Large tolerance and small tolerance

    Tolerances are also divided into sizes and prices are also different. Relatively speaking, the price of large tolerance will be cheaper than the price of small tolerance. For the same product, the same thickness, different tolerances may result in a price difference of hundreds of dollars.