How often do you put thoughts into the right materials before you buy stuff? Maybe for clothes you do, but other than that? Not so much right? Choosing the right material should be step one before buying any product. The material is what defines the core quality of the product. The same is for handpans! Choosing the right material for your next handpan should be number one on your list before shopping. It is an important part if you want your pan to be of the best quality and usable over years. In this article here, we would let you understand what makes stainless steel handpan better than any other material.
There are mainly two types of material that are used for handpans. The nitrided steel and stainless steel. Both have their qualities and both have good usage. Don’t worry, we would take you through a brief description of both of them.
How Nitrided is made
The process of creating nitride steel is as follows. It begins by taking cold rolled-up steel which has low carbon content. The type is usually called DC04. This steel is then sent over to facilities which have experts and trained personnel. These people convert the steel by putting it under the nitriding process. After the process is done, the product – Nitrided Steel is ready to be used.
The limitation with the steel previously was that it was softer and had no rust resistance. By undertaking it with a nitriding process, an additional protective layer was added to the steel that not just protects from rust but also makes it strong. After the nitrating process, the product is strong and has great sound quality, with greater volume also amplifies high frequency in the notes. But it has one negative perk, which makes the handpan hard to handle. It needs regular maintenance and oiling and cleaning. All this adds up to the cost of a handpan.
The qualities of Stainless Steel Handpan
Stainless steel is known for not rusting. This material can be taken to any place no matter how humid and moist it is, the handpan can be taken to any place in the world without the tension of it rusting. The stainless steel handpan still requires oiling and cleaning, but in this type, the maintenance is for best sound quality and it is also not required to be done frequently. The tone that comes out of the stainless steel version is also a lot softer and warmer than nitrided handpans. This type of tone is the best for indoor shows.
