“L&L Special Furnace Co., Inc. has received an order for two atmosphere controlled retort box furnaces used for de-bindering ceramic composite matrix parts, (CMC) along with powder medals processing (PM) and hot isostatic processing (HIP).
Initially CMC and other ceramic matrix components and additive manufactured parts were developed for bullet resistive armor and cloth. These materials were found to be lighter and stronger than some alloy and ceramic substitutes. Additive manufacturing and CMC materials are now becoming more routine and are finding their way into more and more widespread industries.
Aerospace and military have always been the key areas that CMC and additive technologies are applied. The CMC development is a key part of the subsonic ordnance project along with multitudes of other military applications. This technology allows for lighter and more durable aircraft, munitions and body armor. Automotive has also always had a strong presence in the additive manufacturing industry as well.
It is new application areas were CMC technology is starting to shine. CMC technology is beginning to establish a presence in agricultural applications such as water desalinization, power and battery technology in providing lighter fuel cells. This technology will be applied to battery operated transportation vehicles, not only improving transportation capabilities but also lowering greenhouse emissions.
The main function of the furnace is to remove all organics and other materials used in the product prior to placing in a high fire vacuum chamber. This de-bindering process is extremely important and allows for a finished product which is a very strong light weight part.
The model XLC3648 furnace has a work zone of 23” wide by 23” high by 36” deep. The furnace has a single zone of control with a temperature gradient of ±20(F at 1100°F using four zones of temperature control with biasing to balance any temperature gradients.
The furnace is constructed of low mass insulating firebrick which allows for quicker cool down times. The furnace has a venturi cooling blower which will also aid in cooling. The furnace is controlled by a Eurotherm program control with overtemperature protection. There is also a programmable flow panel to control the nitrogen flow throughout the process.
The parts are heated to 1220(F in a retort chamber that is pressurized with nitrogen. The by-products of the outgassing part are directed by pressure and flow out the rear of the furnace. The parts are then heated in a vacuum furnace to temperatures in excess of 2300(F. The result is a super strong component which is stronger and lighter than titanium.”
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(Editors Note: Find out where Bluewater ranks in our list of the largest North American commercial heat treaters; 50 Largest North American Commercial Heat Treats 2021 | The Monty)
Nadcap® recognizes Bluewater Thermal Solutions for its superior performance and commitment to continual improvement in aerospace quality. Bluewater Thermal Solutions announces that it has been awarded Nadcap® Merit status for Heat Treating. “Our South Bend facility has once again received Nadcap’s merit status for heat treating – this time with zero nonconformances during our reaccreditation audit. I am incredibly proud of our team’s efforts and their commitment to excellence. Our unwavering focus on continual improvement is just one way we exceed our customers’ expectations.” Clifton Higdon, Director-Quality
Bluewater Thermal Solutions has held Nadcap® accreditation since 2010. Having demonstrated their ongoing commitment to quality by satisfying customer requirements and industry specifications, the Nadcap® Task Group has determined that Bluewater Thermal Solutions has earned special recognition. This means that, instead of having their next Nadcap® audit in twelve months, Bluewater Thermal Solutions has been granted an accreditation that lasts until August 31, 2024.
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May 22 we had the following very upsetting story about Universal Heat Treating in the Cleveland, Ohio, USA area suffering a very substantial fire. The company has decided that to service their customers all of their current work will be transitioned to another local commercial heat treater. Universal Heat Treating | Cleveland Heat Treating and Oxiding (uhtcle.com)
“MAY 22/2022; A commercial heat treater in the Cleveland area, Universal Heat Treating & Black Oxiding suffered what can only be described as a devastating fire Sunday May 22, 2022. From Cleveland 19 News we have this report which was issued as the fire was ongoing; “CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The Cleveland Fire Department is currently battling a 2-alarm overnight structure fire at a local business on Cleveland’s East Side, according to officials. The fire started at 10:43 p.m. at Universal Heat Treating, located at 3878 E. 93rd St., department officials said. 14 crews are currently battling the fire, department officials said. Cleveland Fire officials said they are still working to get more details on the fire.” Universal has a long and distinguished history in the heat treat industry which goes back to the company’s inception in 1965. The firm offers carburizing, vacuum heat treating, induction hardening and carbonitriding to name just a few of their processes. Our hearts go out to the entire team at Universal.”
“MAY 31/2022 CLEVELAND, OHIO; We are writing to let you know that on May 22, 2022, at approximately 10:41 PM Universal Heat Treating experienced a major fire. We immediately took steps to preserve our customers work and continue providing services as we have since 1965. We Are in the process of transitioning our work to Hi TecMetal Group’s Thermal Treatment Center and Walker Tool Treating. Both businesses are located in Northern Cleveland.
Hi TecMetal Group’s Thermal Treatment Center
28910 Lakeland Blvd
Wickliffe, OH 44092
Phone: (440) 943-4555
Walker Tool Treating
10601 Briggs Rd
Cleveland, OH 44111
Phone: (216) 426-6870
We are also in the process of providing HTG with all customer contact names and email addresses. HTG is in the process of hiring our people that are familiar with running your work this week. Also, they are being provided with all recipes and job routers that will enable them to process your work according to Required specifications. We will continue to post updates on our Universal Heat Treating website https://uhtcle.com/ If you have any questions please feel free to contact us or reach out by email to [email protected] Our team is working around the clock to deal with the situation, and we really appreciate your support and understanding. Michael D Amato
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A captive heat treater in the Rocky Mountain region of the USA is poised to receive a new endothermic generator from McLaughlin Furnace Group of Avilla, Indiana, USA. The unit is a 2,000 CFH gas fired “Tru Mix” system and start up is expected third quarter of 2022. The generator is shown in this picture and is flanked by Ben Tackett, and Ryan McLaughlin.
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Last week we profiled a successful commercial heat treater in Indiana by the name of “Dependable Metal Treating” and pointed out that while the company was successful for a number of reasons, a substantial factor in the company’s success was that they have standardized on one particular type and model of furnace. Today we look at another successful commercial heat treater which has thrived for slightly different reasons-“Sun Steel Treating Inc.” in South Lyon, Michigan, USA.
Founded in 1958 Sun has prospered over the years, so much so that the company is ranked as one of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America as ranked by “The Monty Heat Treat News” 50 Largest North American Commercial Heat Treats 2021 | The Monty Sun operates out of two buildings totaling 60,000 square feet, located on 5 acers in South Lyon, Michigan just a few miles from Detroit. With 50 employees the company focuses on just 2 heat treating processes, Ion (Plasma) Nitriding and Vacuum hardening (we lied a little bit, the company is also strong in “straightening”) with nitriding contributing roughly 70% of sales and vacuum hardening approximately 30%.
With just two processes the best way to summarize the company is to say that as a commercial heat treater treater the firm can best be described as a specialty heat treater. One of the more unusual features of Sun is that they build their own nitriders and they build them big. As an example the nitriders you find in these photos have a weight capacity of 30 tons each. The same philosophy holds true for their vacuum furnaces with most having a capacity of 8,000 pounds with 12 bar quenching.
Going back to our original statement that most successful heat treats have a formal for success brings us to the fact that while this company has grown for a number of reasons, one of the main ones is that they have focused on just two processes and with both have gone BIG leading to an economy of scale. We will take this opportunity to point out that this is a privately owned company and the owner, Mr. Jim McGuirk has a friendly relaxed demeanour which has lead to a very loyal and long serving work force who seem to generally like what they are doing.
We leave you with these photos of “Sun Heat Treating”.
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Jim McGuirk III, Derek Saunders, Neil Shelvey, Shayne Kelly, Jim McGuirk jr, Eric Nordin, Rich Elinski
Rich Elinski, Sales Representative, Eric Nordin, Technical Sales
We mentioned a few weeks ago about how Paulo, one of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America as ranked by “The Monty Heat Treat News” https://themonty.com/project/5
Tee Rassieur, VP of Operations, commented, “We are excited to have Brian join the team with his background in continuous improvement, operations management, and technical understanding”. Brian added, “I’m so happy to have joined the Paulo team here in St. Louis. In former assignments I have been a customer of this plant, and I couldn’t be more pleased to have the opportunity to utilize my continuous improvement and metallurgical backgrounds to lead this great team and continue the tradition of serving our customers.” Founded in 1943, Paulo is one of the largest providers of thermal processing and metal finishing solutions in North America. Headquartered in St. Louis, Paulo operates six strategically-located divisions across the U.S. and Mexico. We deliver quality results with datagineering: blending the best in automation, data, and human expertise.”
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“Aalberts Surface Technologies & Nitrex: An Ongoing Partnership; NITREX METAL and AALBERTS SURFACE TECHNOLOGIES HEAT LTD. (formerly Hauck Heat Treatment Ltd.) have been doing business together since 1995. That’s why when AALBERTS ST, the second biggest commercial heat treater in the world, needs to increase its controlled gas nitriding capacity for processing aerospace parts, the company continues to rely on NITREX turnkey nitriding systems.
The Telford, UK, site has a total of three NITREX furnaces to date, varying in size and with a total production capacity of 35,000 lb. (15,600 kg). All systems include the pivotal NITREGR nitriding technology that protects aerospace parts against corrosion and wear. “AALBERTS ST knows our products and our technology very well. The company trusts us for our technological capabilities and appreciates our customer support service and spare parts availability,” reveals Marcin Stokłosa, Product Manager at NITREX.
The last investment, a model NX-1220 purchased in 2018 for its Telford plant, is a furnace used to nitride aerospace parts with an additional treatment, an in-process post-nitriding oxidation process called ONCR, which adds a higher level of protection against corrosion and wear. Aside from the nitriding installations, NITREX has also worked with AALBERTS on control modernizations and upgrades of other furnace brands at this location, replacing outdated end-of-life technology with NITREX controls to improve furnace performance and achieve higher process reliability.
This new system order with a load capacity of 8400 lb. (3800 kg) uses a unique aerospace software package, specifically modified at the request of AALBERTS ST, to meet production requirements and comply with stringent aviation standards and procedures, i.e., temperature uniformity of +/-3°C. It is equipped with ONCR to post-oxidize parts for improved color uniformity and anti-corrosion properties and also includes instrumentation conforming to AMS2759/6 and AMS2759/10 for controlling the nitriding potential (Kn) and dissociation. The integral dissociator guarantees excellent white layer control, either a zero white layer or a limited layer of subsurface nitrides is possible.”
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This acquisition caught our attention as both companies are involved with the heat treating industry. What changes there will be remains to be seen.
“Watlow®, a designer and manufacturer of complete industrial thermal systems, is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement to acquire Eurotherm® from Schneider Electric, the global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Eurotherm is a premier global provider of temperature, power, and process control, measurement and data management equipment, systems, software, and services for global industrial markets. The company’s headquarters are in Worthing, UK, with core manufacturing operations in Lędziny, Poland, and headcount of about 650 people worldwide.
“Watlow is excited to invest in this innovative product portfolio and professional team,” said Rob Gilmore, Watlow’s CEO. “Combining Eurotherm’s complementary controls technologies with Watlow’s focus on thermal systems, our shared engineer-to-engineer sales models and our focus on common markets will allow Watlow and Eurotherm to better serve all of our respective customers. We are impressed with Eurotherm’s heritage in the controls industry and strong reputation for innovation and quality, so we are looking forward to welcoming the Eurotherm team to Watlow.” Gilmore continued, “Watlow is investing aggressively right now, including development of our operations in Europe and Asia to ensure we can support and respond to our customers wherever they need us. This acquisition will help us expand our presence in Europe and extend our electronics and controls capabilities globally.” “We are very pleased to be joining the Watlow team,” said Chris Ashworth, Eurotherm’s Managing Director. “Watlow is a known leader in the industry, and I believe that combining our strengths will open new opportunities and create value for our customers.”
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Every successful commercial heat treater in the world has achieved that success through a slightly different formula, concentrating on a particular process, having a process which the competition doesn’t have, offering better pricing and deliveries, being a “one stop” shop-the possibilities are endless. Dependable Metal Treating in Kendallville, Indiana, USA has been quite successful for a variety of reasons, the main one probably being standardizing. “Dependable Metal Treating, Inc. is a locally owned and operated heat treating facility located in Kendallville, Indiana. Incorporated in 1995, we have grown from a small 2 furnace operation to 10 integral batch furnaces with support equipment, automatic monitoring controls and a full metallurgical laboratory. Home – Dependable Metal Treating, Inc. ”
We certainly don’t mean to take away from the fact that Dependable is run by an experienced team who are extremely attentive to customers needs and we don’t mean to imply that the company doesn’t have other types of equipment but the mainstay of the plant is the ever reliable “Super 30” and they have served the company well. These photos tell the story and included is a picture of Mr. Jeff McLaughlin of McLaughlin Furnace Group proudly showing off his reasonably new “Tru Mix” Endo generator.
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Jeff McLaughlin, Linda & Ross Noble, Gord Montgomery
