As Loos & Company expands into more specialized markets, performance requirements of individual wires increase significantly and specialized materials are often a requirement. One requirement we see more and more often is for vacuum melt rod to be used in the drawing of stainless steel wire. This raises the question:  What is vacuum melt rod?

Vacuum melt is a process of melting steel that retains fewer impurities in the final form. Impurities affect fatigue life of metals, so this extra level of quality raw material can often provide increased wire performance.

As a manufacturer, we’re happy to provide specialized products, such as vacuum melt stainless steel wire and cable. But keep this in mind:  if you are designing a solution, it’s beneficial to look at your finished product as a combination of many inputs (metallurgy of the wire rod being one) used to create a solution. Stainless steel wire and cable products are sophisticated machines whose performance can be affected by many elements of the final design.  Don’t make the assumption that adding one higher performance variable, such as requesting type 304V (vacuum melt) wire, will necessarily provide the performance you need. Before you finalize a design, make sure to contact a Loos & Company product manager to discuss the total product solution and the overall performance parameters that you need. We can review your design to ensure it will meet your needs.

If you have any questions about this, or any other aspect of building high performance wire and cable products, contact Loos & Co., Inc. today.