The L&L XLE3648 has an effective work zone of 34” wide by 34” high by 44” deep. It includes an electric vertical door, an alloy hearth and a complete control system. The furnace‘s primary function is to heat–treat various tool steels that are used for saw blades, including high–speed tool steels.
The L&L FB336 has an effective work zone of 36” wide by 36” high by 72” deep. The fiber–lined furnace will be used to temper and stress–relieve steel castings. It includes a pneumatic vertical door, 24-inch-high convection alloy fan, a complete control system, castable piers, and a cast–alloy load platform for forklift loading.
Considering current events and the global economy in general, L&L has enjoyed a steady stream of business inquiries, with a higher than average of quote–to–order ratio, which means that buyers are eager to buy and the key is for equipment manufacturers to be able to meet customer needs.
L&L notes bustling demand in general heat–treating along with an increasing pulse coming back into the aerospace industry. Additive manufacturing and CMC production continue to demonstrate consitent growth and make significant advancements in technology.
The company certainly has seen its share of delays due to suppliers postponing deliveries, in some cases. L&L plans to keep its model GS1714, GS2026 and dual–chamber heat–treating and quench tanks in stock for quick delivery. We are beginning to see a bit of understanding as well, indicating that customers are more aware of unavoidable equipment delays due to existing supply chain issues.
In uncertain times, this type of business is encouraging but not without its hurdles, such as inflation, alloy pricing and various supply chain issues that are a constant problem. Being able to source and substitute on the fly is key along with particular attention being paid to scheduling. L&L sends out biweekly updates to our customers so they can track their equipment progress from production through to completion.
The company’s diversity is always helpful in an unstable economy. Its strong presence in the heat–treating field, aerospace industry, high tech ceramic space, and medical and automotive sectors allows L&L to provide products to many businesses in the thermal application market.
All L&L furnaces can be configured with various options and be specifically tailored to meet your thermal needs. The company also offers furnaces equipped with pyrometry packages to meet ASM2750F.
Furnace options include a variety of control and recorder configurations. A three-day, all-inclusive startup service is provided with each system within the continental US and Canada. International startup and training service is available by factory quote.
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Since 1999 “The Monty” has been publishing annually a list of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America based upon annual sales, our 2021 list can be found at https://themonty.com/articles/50-largest-north-american-commercial-heat-treats-2021-2/ This year readers will see we became much more ambitious and expanded the list to the 50 largest. In our 14th spot we have Dowa Thermotech Mexico.
Globally Japan based Dowa Thermotech is one of the largest commercial heat treaters in the world so it is no surprise that it also ranks as one of the largest in North America. Their facilities in San Luis Potosi, Mexico and Bowling Green, Kentucky are both dedicated to servicing the Japanese automakers. It is difficult to say exactly what their sales are, however based upon what we know about their capabilities it is quite possible that the company deserves a higher ranking than what we are suggesting today.
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Since 1999 “The Monty” has been publishing annually a list of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America based upon annual sales-our 2021 list can be found at 50 Largest North American Commercial Heat Treats 2021 | The Monty It is now the time to update our list to reflect on changes that have occurred over the past year. While we expect some changes in our rankings we don’t expect to see anything monumental and this is entirely due to COVID and all its myriad of side effects including supply chain issues.
While COVID is now pretty much in our rear view mirror over the past two years it drastically slowed down in person meetings which made it difficult for any sort of acquisitions. To the best of our knowledge we can only think of one substantial acquisition and that was Thermal Process Holdings acquiring Rockford Heat Treaters in February of this year, an acquisition which might change their ranking as the 11th largest in North America.
What had far more of an effect on rankings was the industries which each company was most focused on. As an example hardest hit were those companies almost exclusively tied to the aerospace industry while firms specializing in the medical industry saw little change and heat treaters related to the firearms business couldn’t keep up with demand. Those firms involved in the auto industry saw turbulent times indeed with peaks and valleys never seen before.
So coming soon we will have our list of the 50 largest North American Commercial Heat Treaters in 2022.
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“NSK Bearings in Kielce, Poland has just taken delivery of a second roller hearth furnace from SECO/WARWICK, a furnace intended for spheroidizing rings for the bearing industry. The first line featuring a SECO/WARWICK roller-type unit has been operating in the factory for seven years now. This type of equipment has its technological roots in the US.
The entire automated line as delivered consists of a loading table with the drive, loading elevators with side handling, heating chambers and controlled cooling chambers, cooling tunnels, unloading elevators and tables as well as a control cabinet featuring a complete automated visualization system that provides comprehensive control over the course of the production process. Such a line will fully guarantee perfect repeatability of the workpieces. The repeatability and the high quality are also important factors for the production of items as sensitive as bearings. “We know that bearing production requires a huge amount of precision. The required metallographic structure can be achieved in the production process only with a strict and repeatable regime of a many-hour thermal process. That is why our production line intended for this purpose is based on full automation of all processes. This enables the elimination of all errors resulting from the human factor.”
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In Austria we find that Schmid Schrauben (Wurth group) has just finished installing a mesh belt furnace line from Italian furnace builder Meapforni.
“Meapforni is installing a mesh belt line with a capacity of 1000 kg/hour at Schmid Schrauben plant (WURTH group) in Austria. The line is part of a large investment SSH is doing to increase the production capacity. The system is fully automatic and consists of a prewash, gas carbonitriding furnace with oil quench, post wash and tempering furnace. Production tests are scheduled for next months.”
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Since 1999 “The Monty” has been publishing annually a list of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America based upon annual sales, our 2021 list can be found at https://themonty.com/articles/50-largest-north-american-commercial-heat-treats-2021-2/ This year readers will see we became much more ambitious and expanded the list to the 50 largest. In our 15th spot we have Heat Treating Services Corporation of America (HTS).
Based in Pontiac, Michigan HTS is a privately owned commercial heat treater founded in 1978. The company has 4 plants in Michigan and serves the ferrous metal industries with thermal process and clean capabilities, which exceed sixty-four (64) million pounds per month.
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A US based manufacturer of sporting equipment recently installed a furnace line with salt quenching to compliment their existing heat treat capacity. The system was designed built and installed by a Swiss Company “Solo Swiss” based in Switzerland. This is how the company describes themselves; “SOLO Swiss SA, founded in 1924, manufactures advanced industrial furnaces for the heat treatment of metals. Headquarters are located in Bienne, Switzerland close to Bern and manufacturing facilities are located in Porrentruy, Switzerland, close to Belfort in France and also in Guangzhou, China. SOLO Swiss is one of the oldest furnaces manufacturer in Europe and exports its equipment all over the world including a strong activity in Asia.”
Solo Swiss is one of two substantial furnace builders in Switzerland which are very well known in Europe but rather uncommon in North America.
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For over 25 years “The Monty Heat Treat News” has been very proud of the fact that we are one of the largest brokers of used heat treatment equipment in North America https://themonty.com/used-equi
On the other side of the ledger we are always looking for additional high quality equipment listings. The fact that “The Monty Heat Treat News” uses a non exclusive sales agreement means that vendors always get a fair price for their equipment. If you would like a free appraisal of your items let us know at [email protected]
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(Editors Note; This was written by Mr. Duane Heinrich Thermal Processing General Manager with Metal Finishing Company in Witchita, Kansas, USA. In the photo below Duane is on the left and John Hubbard of Bodycote fame is on the right).
In 1997 I had come to cross roads personally and professionally. I had started my Heat-Treating career at Frank’s Hard Facing at the ripe age of 15 and worked 21 years for Williams Rock Bit/Smith Gruner/Smith International acquiring more advanced heat-treating skills under the tutelage of Jack Wintermute and Wayne Quantz, 2 of the finest metallurgists I have ever met, in an in-house heat-treating environment.
I met an excellent instructor, mentor, and metallurgist during a class “Metallurgy for the Non-Metallurgist”. His name was David Pye. David and I became friends very quickly. Mr. Pye called one day with an opportunity in the captive heat treating located in Gladewater Texas for a company named Sampson Industries.
Sampson Industries had decided to get into the heat treat business to be able to heat treat H13 extrusion tooling made for various industries, but soon came to the realization that they would need to find other heat treat to process to cover the cost of their substantial investment. They contacted David Pye on training members of their team to become heat treaters and after accessing the skill sets of selected team members David convinced them that they needed an experienced heat treater to be on site to build the heat-treating team. They agreed and David scheduled an interview with the Sampsons.
I arrived in east Texas on 7/11/97 for the interview. We met at the proposed site for the heat treat facility which was a 200’ x 400’ lot. The lot was grown over with weeds and brush. They explained that they had ordered a 36x72x36 Surface All Case integral batch furnace with oil quench and top cool, 2, 36x72x36 tempers, 36x72x36 spray/dunk washer, and a Surface 2500 CFH Endothermic Generator in April and equipment was scheduled for delivery in October. They had several employees they were volunteering to operate the equipment, but there was zero heat treat experience to draw from. After hearing their offer, I saw a tractor with a brush hog attached and asked them if they minded me mulling over the situation and offer while mowing the lot. After clearing the lot of weeds, brush, and debris I accepted the challenge.
As the building went up and we waited on the equipment to arrive, we put ads in the area papers for personnel. We found 3 gentlemen to fill the 3 shifts and put them on various duties around the parent company and working with the contractor erecting the building. We hired a local gentleman to drive our truck, as we got closer to the equipment being installed and ready to process materials. The day came when all was ready to begin processing material, but we had no orders in house. I gave the driver my card and told him to hand them out at all the machine shops in the area and ask if they had any heat treat to pick up. He came back the 1st day with 2 pallets on the truck. I called the companies and let them know that we had the parts. I asked if I could quote the parts, as we were capable of processing and they took a verbal quote over the phone, we proceeded with processing our first commercial order. This continued for several weeks and word of mouth got around that we were competitive on pricing and turned parts faster than the other options available.
David Pye was essential in setting our lab up and I basically created the router and quality system with the help of an IT expert that worked for Sampson industries. We had a part time receptionist who also took care of our billing. Our staff was very lean, but highly efficient operating 5 days a week with weekend expediting an option if given enough notice. We were breaking even after the first 30 days of operation and were now making a weekly run to Houston picking up a truck load of fasteners to be processed.
We determined we needed a logo for the heat treat facility. After several nights discussing the design which started out with a Texas Ranger badge look it progressed in to the one below with the state of Texas and a flame over where Gladewater was located. Ken Sampson came up with that final piece – “East Texas Heat Treat”, we created our logo. The sign was cut out by hand with a cutting torch and hand ground where possible with a hand grinder. The rustic coating was one used in corrosion coating building beams and bridge beams the parent company built.
Jerry Luce of Metroplex Heat Treating (Now Bodycote) fame helped our little heat treat out by vacuum processing 400 series stainless material for us. We did not have vacuum capability, so myself and Ken Sampson drove to Metroplex and met with Jerry. Listening to his story on how he got started with his business and how it was grown was an awesome experience and let us know that what we were doing was possible. We came to an agreement that day and never forgot the help Mr. Luce offered us.
As with all heat treats you have to put money back into the business to keep the growth going and to keep profits coming in. This required planning and focus on the goal. Unfortunately, the ownership was not able to commit to the long haul on this operation. The business was put up for sale and my duties were to find a partner or another company to purchase us. Hi TecMetal Group was one of many to look at the facility, with Terry Profughi himself visiting and meeting with ownership and John Hubbard (of Hinderliter Heat Treating) also visiting as well. At the end of the day no deal could be made and Jerry Luce ended up purchasing all the equipment, along with the sign on the building.
As history would have it, John Hubbard and Bodycote ended up with Metroplex Heat Treating and the sign ended up in his possession. In 2018 John made me aware of the sign being in his possession. He offered it to me, but I could not find my way to Dallas area to pick it up, but was always in the back of my mind that I needed to retrieve this sign, as it was my 1st heat treat logo I had been a part of designing and also was part of my heat-treating legacy that I needed to have in my possession.
I contacted John Hubbard and inquired if the sign was still available? He stated that he knew where it was and would check to see if there was a way I could acquire it. Mr. Hubbard stated that a friend of his Jonathan Maffeo had the sign and was displaying in his house as wall art and that he would indeed part with the sign. A date and time were set up for the pickup. The sign is now with me in Wichita, Kansas where it is now at home.
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