Julia Burgess (asker) Apr 19, 2019:

Thanks everyone Thanks to everyone who offered input on this question. Alison's findings are particularly helpful. I'd hoped to have feedback from the customer with their preference, but nothing so far. Will post here if anything comes through.

FWIW, I simply went with "WBKV quality" in my text, on the basis of Alison's finding that WBKV is a trade name (although my end customer is not Forster), and suggested that they also consider "Swiss gloss" as an alternative.

Alison MacG Apr 2, 2019:

More on Swiss Gloss More than just a tube. Concept Tubes claims the Sterling Swiss Gloss is the ultimate in tubes suitable for direct surface finishing. Manufactured by Forster Steel Tube Technology in their advanced Swiss production facility, it comes direct from the rolling line with a brilliant mirror finish which is of such exceptional quality that it eliminates the need for a polishing stage prior to finishing. The tube is manufactured using an inline rolling process which not only produces the mirror finish but also achieves straightness tolerances of up to 1 mm in 1000 mm, making it suitable for very high precision applications. This offers the potential for customers to achieve lower production costs and shorter time frames from design through to manufacture of the finished product.
Surf World Nov. 1997, 4, (8), 20-21, [in English] ISSN 1351-0525
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lKwzfJWuGqgC&q="More tha...

Alison MacG Mar 29, 2019:

More findings Forster Präzisionsstahlrohre ist Marktführer im Bereich hochwertiger, direkt verchromungsfähiger Möbelrohre. Sie werden unter den Markennamen WBKV bzw. Swiss gloss vertrieben.
http://www.forster-profile.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/media/d_...

Seit vielen Jahren ist Forster mit seinen direkt veredelungsfähigen Kaltbandrohren «WBKV» bzw «Swiss gloss» führend in Sachen Oberfläche
http://www.produkte24.com/cy/forster-rohr-profiltechnik-4193...

Spezialanfertigung für empfindliche, verchromungsfähige Kaltbandrohre (wbkv)
http://www.hug-stahlrohre.ch/anarbeitung/index.html

philgoddard Mar 29, 2019:

Laura Are you going to attempt a translation? :-)
Here's Walzbank:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/german-to-english/tech-engineering...

Darin Fitzpatrick Mar 29, 2019:

Not these! The suggestions from www.abkuerzungen.de are not helpful, but amusing:
Weinbau- und Kellerverein Heiligenbrunn
Württembergischer Bäckerkeglerverband

I also found the abbreviation here, with no explanation: http://www.hug-stahlrohre.ch/stahlrohre/index.html

Laura Diaconu Mar 29, 2019:

WBKV = Walzbank und verchromungsfähig Ich habe es hier gefunden: https://www.lingemann-group.de/wp-content/uploads/Lagerprogr...