Monthly Archives: January 2013

What is steel strapping made out of?

In the early 20th century it was common for steel service centers to make their own steel strapping. The early steel strapping was ugly! It was made from whatever was scrapped from slitting, making it all over the map on tensile strength. Early steel strapping was made of hot or cold rolled steel. Today every American manufacturer make it from a cold rolled low carbon steel. Cold rolled makes it stronger, much stronger then hot band. Today the edges are deburred, and then high tensile strapping is heat treated. The strapping passes through a lead pot to get it to a consistent temperature, then annealed. Finally it gets a paint (black is standard, but blue is frequently available). In Asian markets, green steel strapping is often used. Then the strapping goes through a wax. It is coiled on a 16″ ID x 3″ tall core, and stacked 12/pallet. Some strapping is ribbon wound, and on 1 1/4″ size, gets put up 20-24/skid depending on manufacturer.  Some straps get printed with a rail road approval number, like AAR58.  See this site for AAR steel strapping (click link).