I have seen cobalt leaching from carbide tools in alkaline environments (high pH). Your pH does not seem excessively high, so I would suspect that other factors might be at play. Is there any possibility of current through the tool? Alkaline conditions and DC current flow through the tool into...
Type 303 and other 300 series austentic stainless steels will be magnetic after cold work. The equilibrium crystallographic phase for these materials is austenite or face centered cubic, which is not ferromagnetic. Plastic deformation will cause a deformation induced phase change to martensite...
