Does handcuffs always contain nickel?

I'm wondering, if all handcuffs contain nickel, or if there are made some types, that avoid nickel.

Sarah:

Most handcuffs have nickel plating to provide corrosion resistance. Generally speaking, the outer exposed surfaces are plated while the insides are not. Stainless steel handcuffs are not nickel plated, thus eliminating the chance of nickel allergy and providing much greater rust resistance.

Regards,
Jason

I'm wondering, if all handcuffs contain nickel, or if there are made some types, that avoid nickel.

Well, nickel plated cuffs obviously contain nickel. I'm sure you needed to know that.

Most common stainless steels contain nickel. A table showing the chemical composition of some common grades can be found at:
http://www.sppusa.com/reference/stainle ... mical.html

I'm not sure about the alloy of the basic steel used in carbon steel cuffs. Plain carbon steel doesn't contain nickel, but some alloy steels do. If you're interested in new cuffs, you might contact the manufacturer and ask them about the alloy. Tell them why.

You can get modern carbon steel cuffs in blued or penetrate finishes.

Aluminum cuffs don't contain nickel.

Old cuffs are generally plain carbon steel, so they may be a better choice if you have a nickel allergy. Plus, they can be neat to own.


- Dennis

--
Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win.
-Robert Heinlein

I'm wondering, if all handcuffs contain nickel, or if there are made some types, that avoid nickel.

Dennis, don't forget the older brass cuffs too.

James

I'm wondering, if all handcuffs contain nickel, or if there are made some types, that avoid nickel.

Stainless steel and nickel are alloys that contain mutual properties, but I’ve yet to hear of an allergic reaction to the stainless steel composition. Anyone know of any exceptions?

Most aluminum handcuffs use nickel plated steel bows.

Jason

I'm wondering, if all handcuffs contain nickel, or if there are made some types, that avoid nickel.

I could be wrong but I don't know of any Aluminum handcuffs that have nickel plated bows in general.

As for Sarah's question, you need to look at it in several ways. The base metal and how is it finished as in plating or some other coating over the base metal. Nowadays, most handcuffs are some low carbon steel alloy that may have other elements added to get certain characteristics in how the metal will stand up to use. Then they are nickel plated, blued, penetrate finish, etc. The issue comes to light with the nickel plating if one has allergies to that metal. Some older handcuffs were chrome plated, or hard chromed but that became to expensive for the manufacturers.

Now for stainless steel, you have many different grades of stainless steel and the amount of other elements added to it affect performance. It can run anywhere from around 8% - 20% nickel and usually twice that number for Chromium added to the mix. Now you figure that percent is dispersed uniformly in the alloy and so only a small portion comes into contact on the surface. Another thing is that like most steels alloys, the elements are contained into a crystal matrix of sorts, and one of the desirable properties of stainless steel is it's ability not to rust. You will see sometimes that the stainless is marked rust resistant. For someone to have a reaction to the stainless would depend on how alergic they are to start with and the amount of time they are in contact with the metal, sweating, etc. Keep in mind, they use stainless for surgical reasons because of it's low reactivity in contact with the human body.

-Dorson

I'm wondering, if all handcuffs contain nickel, or if there are made some types, that avoid nickel.

Don't forget the foolproof magnet test!

I'm wondering, if all handcuffs contain nickel, or if there are made some types, that avoid nickel.

Hi James,

and what is the result of this test? There are stainless steel handcuffs, which are magnetic and others are not. So I am not sure how this test should reveal nickel or not?

Best regards,
Guenter