Trapezoidal Hollow Section with Sharp Edges

Design Meets Functionality

The trapezoidal hollow section was going to be placed as hand-rail on top of a glazing balustrade. But it did not only need to have a practical design. In fact, the designer wanted it to be a particular eye-catcher. So the hollow section had to be trapezoidal,  and sharp edged. Additionally, we polished the surface polished with grit 320 on all four sides.
Given the prestigious execution, we choose stainless steel 1.4307 (304L) as the perfect material.
All in all, this tapered box section had following dimensions: 154×58/20 and overall four millimeters material thickness.

Welding Instead of Edging

However, considering the thin material thickness the only production method was to start from plates and laser fuse them to the desired shape.
On the other hand, a conventional TIG or MIG welding would have caused an irrevocable deformation of the bars, that would have affected the overall quality of the result.

The Making of A Trapezoidal Hollow Section

Instead, laser fusion is limiting the heat input to an extremely concentrated area. So the welder can keep distortion under control and it does not affect the bar and the final result.
Furhermore, no chamfering is needed for welding and the weld bead is extremely small. It also can be easily removed by grinding. However, this is also giving the shape the particular sharp edged and precise form, that architects do like so much.
Apart from the aesthetic appeal this tapered box section was also extremely friendly for polishing.

Scope of Services

Unfortunately, we at Montanstahl cannot offer this operation in our service package. Hence, the polishing was done abroad and performed with ease thanks to the clearly defined sides and sharp edges.
For safety reasons the polisher also had to break the edges, avoiding the risk of injuries.
All things considered, the result is a high end hand rail in an Irish shopping mall.