The everyday stainless. Sinks, water bottles, kitchen tools, hardware in any environment that gets wet or salty. Won't rust under normal conditions, polishes to a mirror, takes welding well. Tougher to machine than mild steel — work-hardens fast.
Austenitic chromium-nickel stainless (~18% Cr, 8% Ni). Non-magnetic in annealed state, becomes weakly magnetic when cold-worked. Excellent corrosion resistance in most non-chloride environments. Common architectural and food-contact grade.
Principled BSDF defaults derived from the sphere metallic finish. Reasonable seed for Blender, Substance, Keyshot, Rhino — tune per material. Or grab the whole library at once: ForMaterials library →
# finish: metallic albedo #c8ccd0 metallic 1.00 roughness 0.25 ior 1.45 transmission 0.00 clearcoat 0.00 sheen 0.00 anisotropic 0.00
{
"albedo": "#c8ccd0",
"metallic": 1.0,
"roughness": 0.25,
"ior": 1.45,
"transmission": 0.0,
"clearcoat": 0.0,
"sheen": 0.0,
"anisotropic": 0.0
}
# Blender 4.x — Principled BSDF
# Stainless Steel 304 · finish: metallic
import bpy
mat = bpy.data.materials.new(name="mat_stainless_304")
mat.use_nodes = True
bsdf = mat.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]
bsdf.inputs["Base Color"].default_value = (0.5776, 0.6038, 0.6308, 1.0)
bsdf.inputs["Metallic"].default_value = 1.000
bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].default_value = 0.250
bsdf.inputs["IOR"].default_value = 1.450
bsdf.inputs["Transmission Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Coat Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Sheen Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Anisotropic"].default_value = 0.000
# KeyShot 11+ — lux Python API, Generic material
# Stainless Steel 304 · finish: metallic
# Run from Window → Scripting Console
import lux
mat = lux.createMaterial(name="mat_stainless_304", materialType="Generic")
mat.setProperty("diffuse", (200, 204, 208)) # 8-bit sRGB
mat.setProperty("metallic", 1.000)
mat.setProperty("roughness", 0.250)
mat.setProperty("indexOfRefraction", 1.450)
mat.setProperty("transparency", 0.000)
mat.setProperty("coatingWeight", 0.000)
{
"_format": "Substance Designer / Painter \u2014 pbrMetalRough constants",
"_about": "Stainless Steel 304 \u00b7 finish: metallic",
"baseColor": {
"r": 0.5776,
"g": 0.6038,
"b": 0.6308
},
"metallic": 1.0,
"roughness": 0.25,
"ior": 1.45,
"opacity": 1.0,
"anisotropyLevel": 0.0,
"_notes": "Channels listed are the standard Substance pbrMetalRough output. Drop into a Uniform Color node per channel, or as the constant input on a layered stack."
}{
"asset": {
"version": "2.0",
"generator": "ForMatter"
},
"materials": [
{
"name": "mat_stainless_304",
"pbrMetallicRoughness": {
"baseColorFactor": [
0.5776,
0.6038,
0.6308,
1.0
],
"metallicFactor": 1.0,
"roughnessFactor": 0.25
},
"extensions": {
"KHR_materials_ior": {
"ior": 1.45
}
}
}
]
}# USD Preview Surface — UsdShade.MaterialLook prim attributes
# Stainless Steel 304 · finish: metallic
def Material "mat_stainless_304" {
token outputs:surface.connect = </mat_stainless_304/PreviewSurface.outputs:surface>
def Shader "PreviewSurface" {
uniform token info:id = "UsdPreviewSurface"
color3f inputs:diffuseColor = (0.5776, 0.6038, 0.6308)
float inputs:metallic = 1.000
float inputs:roughness = 0.250
float inputs:ior = 1.450
float inputs:opacity = 1.000
float inputs:clearcoat = 0.000
token outputs:surface
}
}
The food-grade and architectural stainless. Pushes the ShopBot near its limits; comfortable on the MR-1 with positive feeds. Critical rule: never let the tool dwell in the cut — feed positive or back out completely. Work-hardening on a stalled tool ends the tool.
Machinery's Handbook 30th ed., 'Stainless Steel Machining' (304 / 304L); Sandvik stainless-steel-cutting guide; AISI / ASM stainless data.
→ try this material in swarfASM Handbook Vol. 1: Stainless Steels; AISI 304 / 304L datasheet; Nickel Institute stainless literature.
House vocabulary — terms ForMatter uses with intent.
Materials and processes for people who design and make things.
A local-first library of materials, processes, applications, and finishes — equal weight, citable everywhere, so a student can move from "what is this" toward "what's actually buildable here, now, by me." Part of the renato.design ecosystem — sibling of Plenum, Specimen, Ingenue, gesture, graf, and the Renato Rhino plug-ins. Form and matter, inseparable.
Half of teaching materials is teaching how the material is made into the thing. The standard subscription library was always light on that half. The wedge here isn't better samples or a prettier interface — it's treating Process as a peer entity, not a footnote.
Conway, Lefteri, Forty, Sparke, ASM, GIA. Every voice: Voices.
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