"Brian Elfert" wrote in message

I'm certainly not planning on buying the 316 stainless fasteners. I was
just trying to determine if the 18-8 or the 304 stuff is the same as the
stuff sold at the local hardware store.

It appears the 18-8 is the same grade as the normal hardware store stuff.

Brian Elfert


This should help from Atlas Steels:

Chemical Formula
Fe, 0.8% C, 17.5-20% Cr, 8-11% Ni, 2% Mn, 1% Si, 0.045% P, 0.03%
S



Grade 304 is the standard "18/8" stainless; it is the most versatile and
most widely used stainless steel, available in a wider range of products,
forms and finishes than any other. It has excellent forming and welding
characteristics. The balanced austenitic structure of Grade 304 enables it
to be severely deep drawn without intermediate annealing, which has made
this grade dominant in the manufacture of drawn stainless parts such as
sinks, hollow-ware and saucepans. For these applications it is common to use
special "304DDQ" (Deep Drawing Quality) variants. Grade 304 is readily brake
or roll formed into a variety of components for applications in the
industrial, architectural, and transportation fields. Grade 304 also has
outstanding welding characteristics. Post-weld annealing is not required
when welding thin sections.