Out in Racine, Wisconsin, USA we see that commercial heat treater Hestia Heat Treat which was formerly Racine Heat Treat is making an impressive investment. Darius Szczekocki, the owner recently made the decision to invest in a new Nitrex gas nitriding system. For some background on the company we would refer you to the press release below which we published back in 2017 when Darius purchased the company. For more information about Hestia we would also suggest https://hestiaheattreat.com/

“May 1/2017 Hestia Heat Treat, Racine, Wisconsin; If you are scratching your head asking who the heck Hestia Heat Treat is you are certainly not alone as we had not heard the name until yesterday. Hestia Heat Treat is the new name of Racine Heat Treat in Racine, Wisconsin, USA. Racine HT has been around for many years with at least two owners in the past few years, however very recently it was bought by a fellow by the name of Darius Szczekocki who brings to the company a new name and a wealth of experience. Darius has spent a number of years in the industry with companies such as Bodycote and most recently as General Manager at Bluewater Thermal another commercial heat treater. Hestia Heat Treat has a number of Ipsen batch IQ furnaces and vacuum units. We wish him the best of luck.”

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January of 2018 Certified Heat Treating in Springfield, Ohio, USA was acquired by Thermal Process Holdings. Since that time the firm has seen some changes, today we are pleased to announce recent promotions. Further down we have an earlier press release from the company.

“Certified Heat Treating (A division of Thermal Process Holdings) would like to announce that Mark DeBruin has been promoted to Vice President of the Ohio Region.  Dan Antrim (pictured on the right) has been promoted to Plant Manager.”

“October 26, 2019; Thermal Process Holdings announces Mark Debruin as Plant Manager for Certified Heat Treat, Springfield, OH.

Todd McDonald, CEO TPH, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark DeBruin as Plant Manager of Certified Heat Treating, a commercial heat-treating operation located in Springfield, Ohio.  Mark is a degreed Metallurgical Engineer and certified Six Sigma quality professional with extensive experiences that includes thermal processing and machining of metals. Mark has held a variety of positions including Technical Director, Operations Manager, Plant Manager and General Manager within the steel and iron foundry industry and induction furnace industry. Mark has a focus on continuous improvement and expertise in TS-16949 and ISO 9000 quality management systems. Mark will report to Ken Robinette, Regional Vice President, supporting the growth of Thermal Process Holdings commitment to customer satisfaction, employee engagement and performance excellence.

ABOUT THERMAL PROCESS HOLDINGS, INC; Thermal Process Holdings was formed by Calvert Street Capital Partners and John Hubbard (former CEO of Bodycote, PLC) to pursue a buy-and-build strategy in the thermal processing industry. The team has a stated goal to build a diversified, professionally-managed thermal processing business generating over $100 million of revenue. TPH currently owns and operates four businesses: Diamond Heat Treat, based in Rockford, IL; Certified Heat Treating, based in Springfield, OH; Hudapack Metal Treating, based in Elkhorn and Franklin, WI; and P&L Heat Treating, based in Youngstown, OH. TPH is actively seeking other add-on acquisition opportunities.”

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Mike Trimble, Maintenance Manager, Dan Antrim, Plant Manager

Solar Atmospheres of California and Kittyhawk are pleased to announce a strategic partnership for heat treating and hot isostatic pressing services. Kittyhawk, has been providing excellent, timely and economical hot isostatic pressing (HIP) services since 1981 for companies in the aerospace, commercial, military, medical, automotive, firearms and oil and gas industries. Solar Atmospheres provides quality vacuum heat treating services with bright, clean results and minimal distortion. The partnership comes at a perfect time as customers have been searching for value added propositions. As many parts require heat treating and HIP, the relationship allows the customer to work with two companies that have extensive experience and a strong reputation within the industry. Solar Atmospheres and Kittyhawk are both Nadcap, ISO9001, and AS9100 certified, and maintain source approvals for a full line of major aerospace primes. 

“The partnership between Solar Atmospheres and Kittyhawk is a natural fit as both companies are market leaders in their respective industries. This partnership allows the customer to take advantage of hot isostatic pressing and heat treat without having to look further. I am very excited about the future and more importantly providing our customers with two of the best options in the service industry,” states Brandon Creason, President of Kittyhawk.

Derek Dennis, President, Solar Atmospheres of California adds, “In response to the needs and requirements of our valued customers, Solar Atmospheres is delighted to partner with a high caliber organization like Kittyhawk to provide hot isostatic pressing services. Both companies share a strong focus on quality and bringing a valued service to our customers, coupled with a best in the industry level of customer service and responsiveness, and you have a winning partnership for success.”

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It is with regret that we hear about the passing of Benjamin Franklin Rassieur who we know of through Paulo Products Company. Paulo is the second largest commercial heat treater in North America and we have met many of the Rassieur clan over the years, all of whom are good people.

“Monday, October 19, 2020, we lost Benjamin Franklin Rassieur, Jr. at the age of 93. A man of intelligence, dry wit, and integrity, he will be missed by all who knew him. A life-long St. Louisan, Frank was born March 13, 1927 to Pauline (nee Fite) and Ben Rassieur, a couple in marriage and in business. In 1943, his parents founded Paulo Products Company, which found its niche as a heat treater of metals. Joining the firm full-time after college, Frank built it into a highly respected, multi-state operation. He retired as Chairman Emeritus after six decades of service.

A true family business, the company is now run by his sons Ben and Terry and includes its fourth generation of Rassieurs. Frank felt strong kinship to his employees and remained in touch with several well after his retirement. Though modest about himself, he was extremely proud of them. For his development of numerous heat treating and brazing applications and his pioneering efforts in computerizing all aspects of heat treating, the American Society for Metals (now ASM International) honored him with the George H. Bodeen Heat Treating Achievement Award, named for his arch competitor and dear friend.

His first marriage, to the late Mary Terry, lasted twenty five years. Together they raised three sons. Subsequently, he married Mary Vollmer McDonald, who opened him to new levels of warmth as they knit together a large family. Together they’ve been going strong for four decades. They were longtime snowbirds, spending winters at Loblolly in Hobe Sound, Florida, where they developed friendships with people from across the country. Mary survives Frank, as do his children Ben/Frank (Lynn), Terry (Peggy), Tom (Chichi), his stepchildren Dan (Ann), Missy, and Carrie (Peder), his grandchildren, Ben, Will, Tee (Frances), Nick, Karen (Mark), Emily, Matthew, Rebecca, John, Katie, Koehler, Toby, and Charles, his great-grandchildren, Margaret and Mac, and his beloved nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents and his sister Jeanne.

Frank graduated from Community School, John Burroughs School, and Princeton University. He was particularly fond of Burroughs for its outstanding teachers and students. A true believer in education, he taught himself to swim by reading a book and practicing on a dock before entering the water. As a boy, he worked in one of his parents’ early entrepreneurial ventures, packing drill bits for three cents a box and used the money to buy books. In the 1960s, he taught himself to program computers and remained deeply engaged in automation and process control even after stepping down from the presidency of Paulo.

Duty and service were cornerstones of his life. He interrupted his studies to enlist in the Navy in the late stages of World War II. He served as a trustee of John Burroughs School and the Missouri Historical Society. He served as president of the Metal Treating Institute and was active in the ASM and the American Association of Industrial Management. He taught Sunday school at Central Presbyterian Church and was a longtime congregant of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. He was the president of the University Club. He served on the boards of Manchester Bank and then Commerce Bancshares. He was a generous donor to many local charities and cultural institutions. His interest in opening opportunities to new generations led him to establish a career awareness center and to support scholarships at Burroughs. He quietly mentored young entrepreneurs.

For Frank, life held many pleasures, an array expanded by his widow Mary. He sought friendly competition, whether on the tennis court, at the backgammon board or at the bridge table. He enjoyed travel, fishing, bird hunting, crosswords, and sudoku. Harry Carey and Jack Buck’s descriptions and accounts provided his summer background music, and he could be found in row 13 of section 264 during the Cardinals’ glory years of the 60s. Otherwise, his playlist included hits of the 1920s, opera, marching bands, and Dixieland jazz. His career as an amatuer barber was cut short by a complaint from a young neighbor’s mother, who had scheduled a shoot with a portrait photographer for later that day.

He sailed number 13 in the Thistle class. His kite flying prowess sometimes required emergency trips to the hardware store to get more string for a kite that though still aloft was long out of sight. He trained his intense powers of concentration on household repairs and could occasionally be heard cursing in the process. His inventive approach to fireworks resulted in a Zorro scar that he bore ever after. Frank had an increasingly acute sense for self-preservation. He gave up smoking in his twenties, flying in his forties, fried pork chops and hominy in his sixties, and alcohol in his eighties. He enjoyed almond biscotti to the end.

He loved dogs so much that he sometimes resisted getting another one, because the loss of the previous one hurt too much. Nonetheless, Sam, Bruno, Watson, Mitsy, Jenny, Traveller, and Annie marked his heart as well as his carpets. He appreciated his roots. The history of Saint Louis and Webster Groves led him to wander the neighborhoods in search of evidence of cherished loved ones or admired citizens. As a young man, he enjoyed cool summers in Michigan at Central Lake and Charlevoix and always enjoyed seeing a good Petoskey rock.

The family deeply appreciates the gentle care provided by June Davis, Janice Byrd, and Joy Greenwell. Due to the pandemic, the family will have a private interment service. We hope to have a memorial service when one can be held safely. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to John Burroughs School (755 S. Price Rd, St. Louis, MO 63124), the Missouri Historical Society (PO Box 775460, St. Louis, MO 63177), or St. Peter’s Episcopal Church (110 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63124).”

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Yesterday as part of our “Monday Morning Briefing” we had a really cool photo of a brand new furnace installation at IWT in Bremen, Germany https://themonty.com/monday-morning-briefing-75/ What made the photo so interesting was that it was taken in the dark and  was bathed in a blue light. We can now add these pictures of the entire installation as seen in daylight.

“This fully automatic Rohde Bell Hardening Center (BHC 50/60) has been delivered and installed in Bremen, Germany at Leibniz-Institut für Werkstofforientierte Technologien – IWT. The main purpose of the system will be process development in the field of gas carburizing. Especially in the field of gas distribution, temperature uniformity and energy efficiency the furnace sets new standards.”

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As part of our Monday Morning Briefing we had the note below about mining equipment giant Komatsu adding a state of the art heat treating department to their new facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To update this story we can say that the entire heat treatment department will be housed in its own building and the furnaces will be the most versatile in the world-Batch Integral Quench furnaces (IQ for short in North America, Sealed Quench in the rest of the world). While you could argue that the cost per pound of heat treating components in a continuous style furnace such as a pusher are lower, the benefit of a batch IQ is that they are versatile. Different part sizes, different weights not a problem and plus it is far easier to shut down a 3500 pound capacity batch IQ than a large pusher line.

“For our Monday Morning Briefing for October 19/2020 we start off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. To begin we will use this press release which appeared just a couple of weeks ago; “Building on its 135-year-legacy in Milwaukee, Komatsu Mining Corp. officially broke ground earlier this month for its new state-of-the-art headquarters and manufacturing campus in Milwaukee’s Harbor District on east Greenfield Avenue. The company recently finalized the acquisition of two parcels of land totaling nearly 57 acres for the project. Partnering with the State of Wisconsin and City of Milwaukee, Komatsu is investing approximately $285 million in its South Harbor Campus, which will include purpose-built, modern manufacturing facilities; advanced technology, robotics, engineering and R&D labs; a large office complex, training facilities, a data solutions center and an experience center.” When this project was announced back in 2018 one of the details emphasized by Komatsu was that this new project would include a state of the art heat treating facility. We can confirm that this is the case and while we can’t provide details at this point we can say that the heat treat portion of the project is certainly moving ahead.”

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For our Monday Morning Briefing for October 19/2020 we start off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. To begin we will use this press release which appeared just a couple of weeks ago; “Building on its 135-year-legacy in Milwaukee, Komatsu Mining Corp. officially broke ground earlier this month for its new state-of-the-art headquarters and manufacturing campus in Milwaukee’s Harbor District on east Greenfield Avenue. The company recently finalized the acquisition of two parcels of land totaling nearly 57 acres for the project. Partnering with the State of Wisconsin and City of Milwaukee, Komatsu is investing approximately $285 million in its South Harbor Campus, which will include purpose-built, modern manufacturing facilities; advanced technology, robotics, engineering and R&D labs; a large office complex, training facilities, a data solutions center and an experience center.” When this project was announced back in 2018 one of the details emphasized by Komatsu was that this new project would include a state of the art heat treating facility. We can confirm that this is the case and while we can’t provide details at this point we can say that the heat treat portion of the project is certainly moving ahead.

Moving on to the Chicago area we have this brief update about the new Bodycote facility in Elgin, Illinois, USA which we have mentioned in the past. This note doesn’t tell you much, hopefully in the future we can provide more details; “Bodycote’s facility in Elgin, Illinois, replaces an aging Melrose Park facility. The site will support manufacturing supply chains in the Midwest, and the Melrose Park facility will close once the transfer of customers’ work has been completed. Classical Heat Treatment North America President Tom Gibbons says, “Our investment in the new facility enables us to expand our capacity and improve our ability to deliver high-quality heat treatment capabilities to our customers.” Bodycote has more than 70 locations in North America.”

We now move on to Switzerland for this note from furnace builder Codere (whose banner ad can be found on this page). “During these challenging times Codere has obtained orders for two installations in Europe for our System 250 modular batch lines. These installations have been installed with our latest HT View software which has been developed to meet current and future customer demands. Also the final photo is our new nitriding furnace developed internally for nitriding & nitrocarburising processes with hitech atmosphere control settings. For further information on our latest product range, please contact www.codere.ch & you can contact [email protected]

“Italy’s TAV Vacuum Furnaces received an order for two horizontal vacuum heat-treatment furnaces from a leading global energy company. The equipment will be used for the production and maintenance of gas turbine components used to generate power from natural gas. The furnaces have useful dimensions of 48 inches wide x 48 inches high x 72 inches deep with a maximum charge weight of 4,850 pounds and peak operating temperature of 2360°F (1293°C). The equipment’s configuration enables quick and easy loading of different volumes using a customized TAV loading truck.”   

Isn’t this a really cool picture of a new furnace installation? It is Rohde furnace just installed in Bremen, Germany and this is what the builder has to say; “This fully automatic Bell Hardening Center (BHC 50/60) has been delivered and installed in Bremen, Germany at Leibniz-Institut für Werkstofforientierte Technologien – IWT. The main purpose of the system will be process development in the field of gas carburizing. Especially in the field of gas distribution, temperature uniformity and energy efficiency the furnace sets new standards.”

In the UK, Vacuum & Atmosphere Services feels the need to brag about a new Ipsen vacuum furnace installation they just did-good for them. “Delivered this week, VAS have completed the installation of a brand new Ipsen VacTreater horizontal vacuum furnace. Purchased at the beginning of 2020, the Ipsen VacTreater vacuum furnace is the first VacTreater vacuum furnace to be sold within the UK. With a compact design, high versatility & maximum flexibility, the Ipsen VacTreater vacuum furnace has a quench performance of 12 bar cooling pressure.”

In people news we see that Brian Bishop very recently became Heat Treat Manager at Overton Chicago Gear in Addison, Illinois, USA. Overton Chicago Gear is a gear manufacturing company which heat treats their own products in house and also does some commercial heat treating. Brian is obviously a very experienced fellow having worked with companies such as Bodycote and Diamond Heat Treat in Rockford, Illinois.

In more people news we recently learned that Ludovic Chouraki is now HIP Manager at Accurate Brazing in Greenville, SC, USA. Ludovic knows his stuff having worked with furnace builder Ipsen in the past. Most recently he was Maintenance Manager at Accurate. Accurate has got a really nice set up as you can see in this picture.

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For 52 years now the names Brian Reid and Park Thermal have been synonymous, but that is no longer the case. Lets provide some background at this point; Park Thermal based in Ontario, Canada provides both new and used heat treating furnaces as well as catalyst for endo generator and salt for austempering furnaces and this is around the world. Brian has always been the man in charge but that changed very recently. Brian parted ways with the company leaving it in the hands of long time President Jay Mistry. In the meantime Brian has started up another company by the name of “Heat Treat Furnace Solutions” again involved in the heat treat industry. Further updates are coming. In the meantime we have this photo from a few months ago shown Brian and others. Brian is on the right, Gord Montgomery is on the left and in the middle are the founders of B & W Heat Treating, the Beingessner family. This photo was taken in front of the of B & W Heat Treating facility in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada  which at one point was far and the largest commercial heat treater in Canada before the firm was shut down a year ago (that is a story for another day).

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September 23 of this year we ran an article entitled “Why Would Anybody Run a Nitrogen/Methanol System?” https://themonty.com/why-would-anybody-run-a-nitrogen-methanol-system/ the basis of the article was that Endothermic generator produce an atmosphere similar to a Nitrogen/Methanol system but at a fraction of the cost. The article prompted a number of responses which can still be found on our website.

Jim Senne of MetalPro Resources LLC., a manufacturers rep firm in Ohio has looked at this from a slightly different angle in that he is suggesting the relative costs would not be quite as lopsided if the Nitrogen in a Nitrogen/Methanol system was generated on site. One such company which generates their own nitrogen on site is commercial heat treater ETSA, Mexico’s second largest commercial heat treater. In their case they are generating the nitrogen for their vacuum heat treating department but for the same reason as Jim points out here-cost savings.

“Hi Gord, Your recent post in the Monty about N2/Methanol vs. endo generated gas was quite interesting and got some really good feedback.  Your comment about the cost per hour difference, where N2/methanol is 3-4 times more expensive seems about right.  Your example calculation has it at 3.5 time the cost of endo generated atmosphere.  With such a cost difference, clearly those who are using N2/methanol are doing so for a really good reason in order to justify such a premium. 

What was not addressed in the article or any of the follow up comments is that the cost of the nitrogen component can be drastically reduced by using PSA generated N2 instead of bulk liquid N2.  Your example calculation used $0.70 per CCF for the N2 cost from a bulk liquid source.  With PSA generated N2 at the same purity as bulk liquid (about 99.998%) your N2 cost goes from $0.70 per CCF to $0.126 per CCF, reducing the overall cost of the 4500 SCFH N2/methanol atmosphere by about $10 per hour, a significant savings!  South-Tek Systems have many PSA installations in the heat treating industry and their N2Gen systems have proven to be super reliable and the ROI’s are very attractive.  In this case, the ROI on a machine capable of making 2000 SCFH at 99.998% purity is about 1.3 years.  That’s an investment everyone using N2/methanol atmosphere should consider.”

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