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Originally Posted by Basel A
This question is interesting to me because my team randomly got a large amount of 24 gauge galvanized steel, and I'm not sure how much use we can get out of it. Thoughts?
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We've used galvanized in the past but only sparingly. You need fantastic ventilation if you plan to weld it, the edges tend to be incredibly sharp, it doesn't paint well without scrubbing with vinegar or something similar, if you paint it you stink like vinegar for a day or two, but it is strong and when thin it is also pretty light.
We use it mostly for mock ups, prototypes, and guards. Traditionally we plasma cut it with the vent fans turned to 11. We also use a shearing press when simple shapes are needed.
The beauty of steel over aluminum is that we can bend it, flatten it, then bend it again and again and all is well. We have often made structure and manipulators out of galvanized conduit as well. After a rough match, you can hit steel with a hammer or pull on it really hard to force it into place and you're ready to go with enough time left over to help your aluminum neighbors replace an entire assembly that got bent too far. The entire superstructure on our 2014 bot was a mix of 1/2" and 3/4" conduit reinforced with 24 gauge galvanized sheet metal.