To all of our American friends we wish you a terrific and happy Thanksgiving.
Did you like this article? Click here to subscribe to The Monty.
View our recent magazines and podcasts by clicking the following link. https://themonty.com/magazine/
Yesterday we mentioned the very unfortunate passing of Mr. Terry Profughi, founder of ” HI TecMetal Group”. What follows is his obituary and details about the service https://www.marcfburrfuneralho
“Terence C. Profughi, age 76 of Chardon passed away Nov. 20, 2022, after a short illness. Born Feb. 11, 1946, in Cleveland to V. Albert and Viola (nee: Calandra) Profughi, he had been a longtime area resident. Terry was a businessman and entrepreneur, owning and operating many businesses over the years, most recently as CEO and President of HI TecMetal Group. Terry was named Ohio Entrepreneur of the year in 1993, received the 1993 & 1994 Arthur Anderson Leadership 2000 Awards, the 1995 Weatherhead Excellence in Management Award, seven-time winner of Weatherhead 100 Outstanding Growth Company, 1996 winner of 9/90 Award sponsored by Cleveland Magazine, & the 1996 winner of the Metal Heat Treating Magazine’s Award of Excellence.
In his spare time, Terry enjoyed riding his horse in the mountains of Pennsylvania and carriage driving during winters in Florida. He was a true cowboy at heart. Along with his wife Lisa, they operated Meadowlane Farms in Chardon raising Texas Longhorn Cattle and horses. He loved his bull dogs Prim & Paisley but had a special place in his heart for his boxer Cabella.
Survivors include his loving wife Lisa M. (nee: Potti) Profughi of Chardon; children Cara (Cole) Coe of Homosassa, FL, Chloe N. (Evan Reinhart) Patterson of Newbury and Blake Patterson of West Palm Beach, FL; grandchildren Hayden and Porter Coe of Homosassa, FL; father-in-law Robert Potti of Madison; nieces Randi Voelkel of Munson Twp. and Rayna O’Hara of Willoughby Hills; brothers-in-law Bobby Potti of West Palm Beach, FL, Tom (Holly) Potti of Madison & Edward Potti of Painesville; . He was preceded in death by his parents and first wife Louise (nee: Reed) Profughi, sister Alberta Cimorell and mother-in-law Carol (nee: Daffner) Potti.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be 10am on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, at The Church of St. Mary 401 North Street, Chardon, OH with burial to follow at Maple Hill Cemetery in Munson Twp. Calling hours will be from 1-3pm and 5-8pm on Monday at the Potti & Marc F. Burr Funeral Homes 1009 Mentor Ave., Painesville, OH 44077. Obituary, online condolences and memorial gifts available at www.marcfburrfuneralhome.com.”
Did you like this article? Click here to subscribe to The Monty.
View our recent magazines and podcasts by clicking the following link. https://themonty.com/magazine/
Aluplast – ZTG, an Altest company, recently expanded its production capacity with a second Nitrex nitriding system. The Bulgarian aluminum extruder experienced a big manufacturing boost after installing new extrusion presses to meet customer demand for its extrusion profiles used in residential and commercial construction.
The first nitriding furnace, a compact N-EXT-412, had been in operation since 2011. As for the new second furnace, a model N-EXT-612, it is the same as the first one but bigger, capable of processing a load of extrusion dies weighing up to 1300 lb. (600 kg).
A good relationship, trust in Nitrex’s technology to deliver superior and consistent nitrided die results, the dependability of our technical services, and a short delivery delay all helped Aluplast decide to purchase the N-EXT-612.
The nitriding system includes remote access software and complies with the AMS 2759/10 standard for controlled nitriding as well as the AMS 2750 standard in terms of pyrometry and temperature distribution. Moreover, the system is equipped with an ammonia sensor for leak detection and an ammonia filter to purify the supply gas used in the process by eliminating any oil
content, thereby prolonging the system’s service life.
Did you like this article? Click here to subscribe to The Monty.
View our recent magazines and podcasts by clicking the following link. https://themonty.com/magazine/
“Oetzbach Edelstahl, a commercial heat treating facility that has been providing metal heat treatment services for almost one hundred years, has purchased another furnace from SECO/WARWICK. The system on order is a Vector® vacuum furnace with 15 bar abs high-pressure gas hardening and the option of low-pressure carburizing, low-pressure nitriding and cryogenic freezing. It is the third SECO/WARWICK vacuum furnace to be delivered to the German Oetzbach Edelstahl plant.
The furnace ordered by Oetzbach Edelstahl is a standard medium-sized vacuum solution with numerous options. The Vector technology allows the user to produce a wide range of processes: from hardening through carburizing, nitriding, and cryogenic freezing. A vacuum furnace with a heating chamber size of 600x600x900 mm enables the efficient heat treatment of tool and machine parts. It is a proven design with a large number of options: FineCarb® vacuum carburizing, PreNitLPC® pre-carburizing prior to nitriding, LPN low-pressure nitriding and LPCN low-pressure carbonitriding.
“Vacuum furnaces of this type are very often chosen by service hardening plants because with relatively small dimensions, they provide a wide range of processes. We specialize in providing equipment for the specific needs of service hardening plants. We work for the largest companies in this industry. We are trusted by such highly regarded companies, including Härtewerk Chemnitz GmbH, the Slovenian MIHEU hardening plant, the Austrian R&W Härtetechnik, Aalberts Surface Technologies, Kuchma, and the Brazilian Tecnovacum,” – commented Maciej Korecki, Vice president of the SECO/WARWICK Vacuum Business Segment.”
Did you like this article? Click here to subscribe to The Monty.
View our recent magazines and podcasts by clicking the following link. https://themonty.com/magazine/
We understand that this past Sunday, November 20th, 2022 the North American heat treat industry lost a giant-Mr. Terry Profughi, Chairman of the Board of HI TecMetal Group. A very colorful and well known member of the industry Terry founded commercial heat treater HI TecMetal Group (HTG) a Cleveland, Ohio based commercial heat treat with several locations which he ran for 54 years. We will provide more details as they become available.
Did you like this article? Click here to subscribe to The Monty.
View our recent magazines and podcasts by clicking the following link. https://themonty.com/magazine/
Last week “The Monty Heat Treat News” had the privilege of touring Phoenix Heat Treat in Phoenix, Arizona, USA-our summary of the company was posted yesterday and can be found at https://themonty.com/phoenix-h
Did you like this article? Click here to subscribe to The Monty.
View our recent magazines and podcasts by clicking the following link. https://themonty.com/magazine/
Last week we had an interesting item about a US firm by the name of Allied Locke in Dixon, IL expanding their in house heat treat department (the original story can by found at this link In House Heat Treater Continues to Expand Heat Treat Department | The Monty and also below). As it turns out what your read was only part of the story, we can now add these further details;
In addition to the details provided last week we can also say that Allied will be investing in a controls system update for their batch IQ furnaces and generators which is being provided by SSi of Cincinnati, Ohio-hold on we are just getting started. Other projects include 2 small vacuum furnace additions and upgrades to their robotic induction heat treating equipment. We will also issue a correction, it would appear that the company will have 3 mesh belt furnace lines as opposed to 4. All in all an extremely impressive investment.
“NOVEMBER 13th 2022. In House Heat Treater Continues to Expand Heat Treat Department; Headquartered in Dixon, Illinois, USA Allied Locke is a manufacturer of chain and chain products. Founded in 1965 as Allied Chains the company has grown and prospered over the years and now has five divisions: Agricultural Chain, Precision Roller Chain, Industrial Chain, Sprockets, and Environmental Products. The primary manufacturing facility (Plant 1) in Dixon, IL covers nearly 675,000 square feet. Home – Allied-Locke Industries (alliedlocke.com)
The firm has always considered heat treating to be a “core competency” and to that end they have continued to invest and expand their heat treat department, to the point that it is becoming one of the larger captive heat treaters in the US. Currently Allied has 6 batch IQ furnaces, each 36” X 72” X 36”, 3 Can Eng mesh belt furnace lines and related equipment including endothermic generators. As we speak a 4th Can Eng mesh belt line is being installed and plans include one more batch IQ line.
At the same time the company has recently installed what was described to us as an “amazing, new” metallurgical lab and is working towards CQI-9. So often heat treating is an afterthought in manufacturing firms and is relegated to that dark dirty area at the back of the plant. It makes our day at “The Monty Heat Treat News” to see that some companies rightfully understand the importance of heat treating-Allied Locke is certainly one of these.”
Did you like this article? Click here to subscribe to The Monty.
View our recent magazines and podcasts by clicking the following link. https://themonty.com/magazine/
NASA’s unmanned Orion spacecraft launched successfully from Cape Canaveral at 1:47 am for a six-week test flight around the moon and back. This launch marks the first iteration of NASA’s moon-to-Mars Artemis 1 program. Each successive launch is designed to push the rocket through a series of rigorous tests before it is deemed reliable enough to carry astronauts to the moon and eventually on to Mars.
One of the most daunting aspects of launching a full spaceflight crew into space is deciding what to do if something goes wrong. The astronauts are essentially riding on top of a directed, controlled explosion for approximately nine minutes. For the 2014 Orion launch, NASA introduced the Launch Abort System (LAS). This large manifold housing made from 6AL-4V titanium is designed to rapidly propel astronauts away from the main rocket in case of a catastrophic explosion or any other unexpected event. Once fired, the LAS will accelerate the astronauts away from the main rocket at forces up to 10 to 15 times normal gravity (“G’s”). This critical part of the safety system was once again vacuum heat treated by Solar Atmospheres of Western PA for their most recent launch.
Michael Johnson, Sales Director stated “Before the mighty Artemis rocket left Earth’s atmosphere with 8.8 million pounds of thrust, many of the components and support hardware had already experienced a lunar-like atmosphere here in western Pennsylvania. Many of the titanium and Inconel components were processed well below 1×10-5 Torr throughout thermal processing. Although our crew here on Earth were wearing nitrile gloves, it’s overwhelming to know we had a hand in heat treating these critical parts.”
Solar Atmospheres of Western PA is very proud to contribute to the success of the Orion Artemis 1 Mission and all SLS programs.
Did you like this article? Click here to subscribe to The Monty.
View our recent magazines and podcasts by clicking the following link. https://themonty.com/magazine/
As previously mentioned commercial heat treater Phoenix Heat Treat gave “The Monty Heat Treat News” a 5 star tour of their facility this past Friday, a tour which we have been looking forward to. As the largest commercial heat treater between San Diego, CA and Dallas, Texas, USA we were anticipating a fairly large facility with a number of processes and we were not disappointed with what we saw.
Founded in 1963 by the grandfather of the current President, Mr. Pete Hushek the company now has 67 employees and a very substantial facility. Arizona is not known for a large manufacturing base which means Phoenix (NADCAP accredited by the way) by necessity offers a wide variety of thermal processing capabilities including aluminum heat treating, carburizing, gas nitriding, vacuum hardening, annealing, austempering and martempering-have we forgotten anything? If so the full list is available at Phoenix Heat Treating – Quick Quote – We provide tighter process control with higher quality at lower costs (phoenix-heat-treating.com)
What is striking about the company is the knowledge which has been passed along through several generations of Huskeks. In 3 hours of speaking with Pete we learned more heat treat industry tricks than we have learned in the past 5 years. A phrase which he used caught our attention as something we should remember it goes like this; “Metal is not very smart but it has a mind of its own in terms of its characteristics which means you have to trick the metal into doing what you want”-Pete went on to use some very interesting examples which could only come from years of experience. Pete’s son Charlie who is General Manager has quite obviously absorbed this knowledge from his father.
Phoenix is currently on a very strong growth curve which includes recent additions such as a larger drop bottom oven installation for processing aluminum, another very exciting addition which the firm is looking at includes-well we will have to leave that for a future date.
When we quizzed Pete and Charlie about what they see in the future for heat treating they were unanimous in saying that additive manufacturing is creating some very exciting opportunities, opportunities which are still being explored. Charlie added that he has always felt that the heat treatment industry is too secretive in terms of the processing and that more transparency in the industry would benefit both manufacturers and commercial heat treaters a sentiment which we would agree with.
All in all a fascinating facility and one well worth visiting. We hope these photos and some additional ones tomorrow do justice to the company. Gord & Dale Montomery
Did you like this article? Click here to subscribe to The Monty.
View our recent magazines and podcasts by clicking the following link. https://themonty.com/magazine/
Charlie & Pete Hushek, Dale Montgomery (The Monty Heat Treat News)
Charlie & Peter Hushek
Gord Montgomery, Pete Hushek (President PHT), Derek Chomczyk (Production Manager, PHT), Charlie Hushek (General Manager, PHT)
Bodycote the world’s largest commercial heat treater (to see how the company compares to competitors we would suggest The Monty Heat Treat News – 50 Largest North American Commercial Heat Treats 2022 | The Monty) announced on November 18th, 2022 a trading update for the four month period from July1 to October 31 2022. The results, (which should please Bodycote share holders) are summarized below with entire report available at The leading provider of heat treatment and specialist thermal processing services worldwide – Bodycote plc
“Trading update – 18 November 2022/ Strong revenue growth in Q3; on track to meet full year expectations. Bodycote, the world’s leading provider of heat treatment and specialist thermal processing services, issues a trading update covering the four month period from 1 July to 31 October 2022 (“the period”).
Total Group revenue for the period grew by 29% on last year to £258m (up 22% at constant currency). AGI revenues, at £148m, were 24% higher than last year (up 21% at constant currency), while ADE revenues, at £110m, were 35% higher than last year (up 24% at constant currency). Volume contributed 7% to revenue growth with foreign exchange translation contributing 7%.
The revenue figure benefits from price increases and energy surcharges of approximately 15% in total. We introduced energy surcharges at the end of last year with the intention of covering the highly volatile costs of electricity and gas we have been experiencing. While there was initially a lag when these were first introduced, our price increases and surcharges have successfully covered all of our cost inflation in the period.
As gas and electricity price increases have varied significantly between countries, the impact of surcharges on our revenues has differed in the same way. The AGI businesses are weighted more towards Western and Eastern Europe, where the highest increases in gas and electricity prices have been experienced. ADE businesses are weighted towards North America and our relatively lower energy-consuming Specialist Technologies. As a result, the impact on revenues during the period for the AGI businesses was 19%, whereas the impact for the ADE businesses was 10%. Underlying volumes in AGI grew 2% while volumes in ADE grew 14%.
The following review of the Group’s revenues by end market quotes all movements based on growth in the period against the same period in 2021, at constant currency:
Automotive revenues were up 18%. This increase was entirely due to the impact of price increases and energy surcharges. Volumes were flat versus last year, as well as versus the first half of this year, despite supply chain issues easing in a number of areas.
General Industrial revenues grew 25%, with volumes continuing to hold up well, supported by stronger performance in market sectors where a higher proportion of the work is for capital investment. The energy end market now comprises 17% of General Industrial and grew 30%.
Aerospace & Defence revenues grew 19%. Civil air travel continues to strengthen and OEM production is ramping up; defence volumes were flat.
Emerging market revenues were up 47%, reflecting the highest level of energy surcharges in the Group, as well as double digit volume recovery in China and Mexico. Slovakia and Turkey volumes continued to grow at double digits.
Specialist Technologies’ revenues grew 22% (18% on an organic basis), with solid volume growth, particularly in the ADE focused Specialist Technologies.”
Did you like this article? Click here to subscribe to The Monty.
View our recent magazines and podcasts by clicking the following link. https://themonty.com/magazine/
