Furnace controls company SSi is offering several free technical webinars on a number of heat treat topics in Spanish.

Ion nitrider system supplier Ion-Heat has sold two brand new Ion (Plasma) nitriders to two separate captive heat treaters in Texas, USA. While we have few details yet we have been lead to believe that one is either up or running or close to it and the second one will also be installed this year. We are confident that we will be able to provide more details in the near future. In the meantime we have this photo of the first system which Ion Heat sold into North America a number of years back. This system was installed at Midwest Thermal Vac in Kenosha, WI and in the picture you see on the left the owner of the company Mr. Fred Otto and on the right Gord Montgomery.

“Join Super Systems Inc. for a webinar on May 27, 2020 at 1:00 PM EDT. This seminar will cover: Vacuum Heat Treating Under AMS2769 Requirements. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Please click on the link below to register for the seminar.”

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6188214575573997070

Vacuum System

• Units of Pressure
• Sensor Technologies
• Gas Compensation
• Ultimate Vacuum Requirements
• Real Leak versus Virtual Leak
• Leak Rate,
• Backstreaming
• Surface Discoloration

Partial Pressure Atmospheres

• Vaporization Temperatures & Table
• Dew Point Requirements,
• Sensor Technology,
• Partial Pressure Technology: Solenoid Valve vs MFC

Heating Methods

• SCR + Rheostat
• Multiple SCRs (Digital Trim)
• Initial Survey Requirements

Outgassing

Load Thermocouples

• Extension Wire

Fixture Material Selection

• Eutectic Points

Quench Methods

• Vacuum Cooling,
• Controlled Cooling,
• Gas Fan Quench,
• Oil Quenching

Bake Out Cycles

Tuesday May 19th, 2020 there was an auction of the surplus assets to the ongoing operations of Kennametal in Irwin, PA, USA. Featured in the auction were several heat treat related items including a Holcroft vacuum sinter furnace with these specifications;

“HOLCROFT Pressure Sinter Furnace, s/n na, w/ Allen Bradley 1500P PLC Control, 870 PSI, 2730 Degrees F Max Operating Temp, 1760 Lbs. Load Zone, 21″x 19″x70″ Load Zone, (3) Heating Zones, Process Gas- Hydrogen/Argon, Chromalox Microtherm CMX Temperature Control System.” With the current COVID-19 issues we were curious about what sort of response the vendor would see, keeping in mind that while Holcroft is a fine furnace builder they are not well known for vacuum furnaces which would effect the saleability. Well the bottom line was that the furnace sold at auction for $45,000 UD which is more than we would have expected. No idea who the buyer is but for an item like this it was sold to a captive heat treater-certainly not a used equipment dealer or commercial heat treater.”

“Kamyanka Machine Building based in the Ukraine, an international leader in the production of pumps for manufacturing thread and chemical fibers, metallurgy and oil, will use the technologically advanced SECO/WARWICK solution to perform three heat treatment processes in a single furnace instead of in separate operations.

The Machine Factory in Kamyanka, Ukraine, has operated since 1936, currently producing over 50 types of pumps for the chemical, metallurgy, and energy markets as well as other industries. The company provides its solutions to many countries of Eastern, Central Europe and Asia. The contract for the supply of a comprehensive installation for heat treatment of pump parts means a radical improvement in the parameters of the parts, less deformation and longer life of all components. The production line includes the VECTOR 15VP furnace for hardening, quenching and tempering. The furnace will be equipped with a closed water system and gas installation so that the device can work independently. Additional equipment will also include the LPC (vacuum carburizing) option as well as quenching, heating in gas and isothermal cooling. Thanks to this the factory will be able to carry out the full heat treatment process in one device in accordance with their requirements. Typically, such a process is conducted in three separate devices, and thanks to the unique solution from SECO/WARWICK engineers, they can take place in a single furnace. This solution will reduce the cost of the entire investment, as well as subsequent expenditures on the operation of the installation.

The use of one furnace with optional equipment for three heat treatment processes – hardening, quenching, and tempering – provides a whole range of benefits. The device is simpler and faster to install than 3 separate furnaces, requires less space, provides up to 40% energy savings, reduces processing and cooling times, and thus overall production cycles, and is simple and precise to use. The furnace control includes a number of facilities, as well as human error protection. All operations are saved on hard disks and made available online to SECO/WARWICK service technicians to monitor compliance of the device’s operating parameters.

This is the first order from the Kamyanka Machine Building for SECO/WARWICK, and another for SECO/WARWICK in Ukraine, which is becoming an important market for the Group’s operations.”

“Abbott Furnace Company is proud to announce that a market leader in the powder metal industry, has placed an order with Abbott Furnace Company for a steam treat furnace to be installed in Mexico. The company awarded Abbott Furnace the order continuing a long history of more than 100 furnaces providing a variety of heat treat solutions. The Abbott Furnace steam treat furnace was selected because of its process flexibility, ease of installation and the local regional support provided by Abbott Mexico sales and service team.

Abbott Furnace is an industrial furnace manufacturer with 35 years of experience designing and producing some of the industry’s most reliable and high performing industrial continuous process furnaces. Abbott is a leading producer of industrial sintering furnaces, annealing furnaces, tempering furnaces, brazing furnaces, heat treat furnaces, steam treat furnaces, industrial ovens, CAB furnaces, High-Temperature Furnaces and other specialty furnace products. Abbott Furnace is a privately owned company located in St. Marys, Pennsylvania.  Abbott furnaces are proudly manufactured in the USA.”

Jan Massholder was recently appointed Managing Director for vacuum furnace provider Furnacare. Based in Spartanburg, SC, USA Furnacare is the US marketing, sales and service division of TAV Vacuum Furnaces. TAV is a long established furnace manufacturer and the largest in Italy. Jan brings with him over 10 years of experience in the vacuum furnace industry.

“Hubbard-Hall and SFECHEM have forged a strategic distribution alliance to supply U.S. customers with SAFECHEM’s DOWCLENE™* 16-Series of modified alcohol solvents, test kits and stabilizers, through Hubbard-Hall channels. These high-performance solvents have excellent properties and are suitable for cleaning heat exchangers, medical applications and industrial components. The solvent has also been utilized by well-known aerospace companies.  SAFECHEM is a provider of solutions for the safe and sustainable use of solvents for industrial parts cleaning, textile cleaning and asphalt testing applications with offices located in Dusseldorf, Germany and Shanghai, China. 

“In an effort to provide the best option for the wide spectrum of cleaning requirements of our customers, Hubbard-Hall is honored and excited by the addition of the DOWCLENE™* 16-Series of modified alcohol solvents and stabilizers provided by SAFECHEM. As an authorized North American partner with SAFECHEM, Hubbard-Hall is pleased to offer our combined expertise and decades of solvent experience,” said Jeff Davis, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Distribution. Commenting on this new venture, Manfred Holzleg, General Manager of SAFECHEM, stated “With the U.S. accounting for a large share of the global industrial cleaning market, we have been planning a strategic move into this geography for a long time, and have been working diligently behind the scenes to make this a reality. With Hubbard-Hall, we have found a highly committed, high-caliber partner who not only commands excellent knowledge of their markets and the latest cleaning technology, but more importantly, who shares the same values as we do, namely sustainability, innovation and collaboration.“

“The establishment of this strong U.S. alliance marks another significant milestone for SAFECHEM. We welcome Hubbard-Hall as new members of our global distributor network, and we look forward to working closely together to help U.S. manufacturers benefit from the versatility of modified alcohols in their industrial cleaning process.” said Manfred.”

The world of press quenching (or Fixture Quenching as it is called in Europe) is a small one with just a handful of equipment suppliers. These systems are not commonly found in commercial heat treats but are quite common amongst manufacturers of gears or bearing races. Companies such as Treat All Metals (Regal Beloit) in Glendale, WI , Timken Bearings in Canton, Ohio, Brad Foote Gear in Pittsburgh, PA and Northstar Aerospace in Beford Park, Illinois all come to mind as examples of captive heat treaters who have press quenching systems in house.

One of the largest, most established suppliers of such systems is a German company by the name of Wickert who have been in existence for 110 years. The company has a large install base in Europe and Asia but a relatively small one in North America-it sounds as thought the company is trying to change that. While Wickert USA has had a small precense in North America for a number of years they recently hired a fellow by the name of Matt Stachel as Director of Wickert Sales, North America and his mandate is to raise the profile of the company and make the investments necessary to get that done. Matt can be seen in one of the photos below and in a second photo taken at the HK19 show in Cologne, Germany last October we see on the left Mr. Hans-Joachim Wickert and on the right Mr. Marc Jordan.

What you are looking at is what will be the largest horizontal vacuum furnace to be installed in all of the UK. As you can see it is not yet installed but it soon will be. We will have more details about the installation and the furnace later on this week.