We would venture to say that there has never been a time in the heat treating industry when good, experienced people were so desperately needed and the situation is only getting worse as retirements accelerate. A sign of the times can be found in our “Positions Open” section https://themonty.com/employment-opportunities/ where just today we added 3 open positions. Bodycote is looking for two Production Managers in the US North East, and Premier Thermal requires a Plant General Manager in Michigan. Over the next few days we will also have openings for Service Technicians and a Plant Manger Position in Canada.

Furnace manufacturing group Gasbarre is making a number of changes which include the organizational structure and some brand name changes; “DuBois, Pa – Gasbarre Products, Inc. (Gasbarre) is pleased to announce the launch of its new website, www.gasbarre.com, with updated branding. As part of the rebranding initiative, and to more closely align with the end users of its products, Gasbarre has categorized its diverse product offering into three business units: Powder Compaction Solutions, Thermal Processing Systems and Manufacturing Technologies.

Powder Compaction Solutions consists of all things related to compaction presses, press automation, precision tooling and other related powder feeding solutions.  Gasbarre’s diverse press offering includes uniaxial Mechanical (Gasbarre & PTX-Pentronix), Hydraulic, Electric, and Cold Isostatic Presses (Simac).

Thermal Processing Systems, Gasbarre’s largest product group, offers Belt and Pusher Sintering Furnaces (Sinterite), Continuous and Batch Vacuum Furnaces (C.I. Hayes), and Industrial Furnace Systems (Gasbarre Industrial Furnace Systems). As part of their rebranding effort, Gasbarre is announcing that it will no longer be using the brand name J.L. Becker and has moved to Gasbarre Industrial Furnace Systems (Gasbarre IFS). This change is representative of the significant enhancements made by Gasbarre as well as its focus on reliable equipment and great service.

Manufacturing Technologies provides Manufacturing and Fabrication, Mechanical and Electrical Assembly, and Design Services to a wide range of industries.  With 200,000 sq./ft. of manufacturing space and state-of-the-art equipment, Gasbarre can leverage its knowledge to provide high quality manufacturing expertise to industries seeking an OEM to manufacture their equipment.

Other Developments. In the coming months, Gasbarre will be launching its Field Service Cloud and InSight Equipment Networking Software.  These systems provide Gasbarre customers anywhere/anytime access to cloud-based asset management and service scheduling as well as OEE, alerts, and status tracking to optimize their operations. Stay tuned for updates on these developments and more on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and on the Web: www.gasbarre.com.

 For more information, contact: Donna Spillane, Marketing Coordinator, Gasbarre Products, Inc., 814.371.3015 ext. 260, [email protected]

We mentioned the passing of long time heat treater Rod Pressey, who passed away earlier this week. “Rod Pressey Passed away on January 14, 2019 at his home in the presence of his loving family after a valiant battle with cancer at the age of 61. Beloved husband of Beth (McElwain). Loving dad of Jennifer and husband Craig Steptoe, Alison and former spouse of Lynn. Stepdad to Jesse Brown (Bea), Mandy Brown, Jeremy Brown (Sandy) and Chris Brown. Loving Poe to Mitchel, Madison, Grayson, Ellody and Harvey. Cherished son of Dorothy and the late Donald Pressey of Alymer, Ontario. Dear brother of Rhonda (Wayne), Joel (Denise), Sheldon (Donna), and Darcy (Jennifer). Brother-in-law to John (Janet), and Bob (Pam). Special uncle to many nieces and nephews. Rod will be remembered for his love of life and by many close friends. He retired from a successful career managing a local heat treatment facility. Rod will also be remembered for his musical talent and for being a member of several London area bands. His hobbies included home renovation, playing his guitar, tending his garden and spending time with his beloved dog Ziggy. As per Rod’s wishes, memorial donations to the Hospice of Windsor would be appreciated in lieu of flowers. Visitation Friday from 3-5 and 7-9 p.m. Funeral will be held on Saturday, January 19, 2019 at 11:30 a.m. at FAMILIES FIRST 1065 Lauzon Rd., East Windsor, 519-969-5841.”

From International heat treat consultant David Pye, of Pye Metallurgical [email protected] we have these thoughts about the heat treatment of Aluminum; “The heat treatment of heat treatable aluminum alloys is a very sensitive and specialized subject. The strengthening of the heat treatable alloys necessitates what would appear to be a very simple procedure known as solutionizing. However, the solution treatment of the heat treatable aluminum alloys is conducted extremely close to the liquidus temperature of the aluminum alloy, and can very easily be subjected to l surface grain boundary melting. So residence and temperature selection are critically important to the thermal processing of the heat treatable aluminum alloys.”

The heat treatment of heat treatable aluminum alloys is a very sensitive and specialized subject. The strengthening of the heat treatable alloys necessitates what would appear to be a very simple procedure known as solutionizing. However, the solution treatment of the heat treatable aluminum alloys is conducted extremely close to the liquidus temperature of the aluminum alloy, and can very easily be subjected to l surface grain boundary melting. So residence and temperature selection are critically important to the thermal processing of the heat treatable aluminum alloys.

This short presentation will deal with the categorization of the heat treatable alloys and followed by the introduction of the thermal strengthening procedures of heat treatable aluminum alloys. Although there are many alloying elements that can be added to the basic aluminum, there are generally only 5(five) major alloying elements. The alloying elements for aluminum are seen in the illustration below;

Categorization of Non Heat Treatable Aluminum Alloys

The only thermal treatment that can be given to the non-heat treatable aluminum alloys are those thermal treatments that will; Anneal,     Stress Relieve. There are no other thermal strengthening treatments that can be applied to the non-heat treatable aluminum alloys.

Categorization of Heat Treatable Aluminum Alloys

Solutionizing Treatment. (sometimes known as solution anneal)

Precipitation treatment. (age hardening/naturally/artificially. The net result of the solutionize treatment (in terms of hardness is, that the particular alloy is in its softest condition). The precipitation treatment is the process that will develop both the appropriate metallurgy and the mechanical properties of the particular grade being treated.

Solutionize Treatment. There is a very specific reason for the solutionizing procedure which is to take into solution (dissolve) all of the principle alloying elements contained in the analysis of the aluminum alloy. The alloying elements are known as the solute elements. The solute elements are generally;

Other elements that are not in solution, such as;

Will strongly affect the aluminum alloy microstructure accomplishment.

So what does it mean to solutionize or solutionize anneal?

The process of aluminium solutionizing treatment is slightly different to that of steel heat treatment. It is different in so much as the solution as treatment which involves heating the aluminium alloy up to its appropriate solution temperature followed by quenching rapidly, this makes the alloy extremely soft. This procedure is done simply to make sure that all of the solute alloy elements go into solution. (Hence the name solutionizing.) (Think now of the saturated solution of salt in water, the method of making the salt go into solution is to raise its temperature);

The next illustration shows a typical solutionize procedure, followed by a precipitation hardening procedure:

The process temperature is such, that the aluminum alloy is very close to the aluminum alloys lowest melting temperature, which necessitates the need for;

In addition to this requirement, it further necessitates the ramp up to the solutionize temperature as uniformly as is possible to reduce the risk of creating low temperature grain boundary melting and for the possible cause of segregated structures. The time at the solutionize temperature will be determined if the heat treatable aluminum alloy will be;

This because at the primary alloy manufacture, differential cooling rates will occur from the surface to the core, thus producing different grain sizes and potentially different phase structures. An excellent guide to time at solutionize temperature is to refer to the ASM publication known as ‘The Heat Treater’s Guide, Practices and Procedures for Nonferrous Alloys’. (This publication is a very valuable publication and a great addition to the heat treater’s library.

Solution Quenching for the heat treatable aluminum alloys

It is of PARAMOUNT importance that the transfer of the aluminum alloy being solution treated, be transferred in a most timely manner to ensure complete solutionizing of the alloying elements. The process temperature selected (depending on the heat treatable alloy and its maximum cross sectional thickness) and the  transfer time   begins at the commencement of the furnace access door beginning to open and is complete at the point of total submergence of the alloy into the selected quench medium.

Should the time of transfer exceeds the appropriate transfer time (based on cross sectional thickness) will not achieve full solutionizing. This means that the both the required metallurgical and mechanical properties will not be accomplished. It is further recommended that for the heat treatment audit for NADCAP and the heat treatment of aluminum alloys, the heat treat company is in possession of a certified and certificated stop watch be used to verify the transfer time from furnace to quench medium. The maximum transfer time for aerospace aluminum heat treat alloys, is as follows;

Cross sectional thickness of 0.016” Max = 5 Seconds, from commencement of door opening to total quench medium submersion.

Cross sectional thickness of 0.500” and greater = 15 Seconds, from commencement of door opening to total quench medium submersion

Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT), a recognized leader in heat treat services and metallurgical solutions, announced today the arrival of three new gas nitride units at their corporate headquarters located in Waterloo, Iowa. The investment doubles their gas nitriding capacity at this location and allows the company to expand its UltraGlow® gas nitriding and UltraOx® surface treatment solutions. The three new gas nitride units vary in size, allowing for the accommodation of various industries and applications including, but not limited to: agriculture, construction, aerospace, firearms and oil and energy. One nitride unit will be operational this month, and the additional two units will be running in February. AHT also has plans to design/build an additional unit later in 2019.

AHT President, Mikel Woods commented, “I’m excited on many accounts. One, we’re adding capacity/back-up to an already growing agriculture/construction market. Two, we have plans to add a new Nadcap process in order to expand further into the aerospace market and meet our customer requirements/requests. And three, we’re gearing up to go even bigger in 2019 with additional equipment.” The new units will house AHT’s UltraGlow Gas Nitriding and UltraOx services, commonly used in manufacturing to prevent corrosion and improve wear resistance.

Woods commented, “UltraOx is rapidly replacing processes like QPQ/salt bath, chrome plating and nickel plating; therefore, it was pivotal for us to invest in more equipment so that we can accommodate the growing demand and continue to provide our customers with the quality and service they have come to expect from AHT.” AHT is currently Nadcap accredited for ion nitriding at their corporate location, but with the additional capacity, AHT plans to gain accreditation in gas nitriding by this summer as well. The additional Nadcap accreditation will help AHT to accommodate additional aerospace needs and grow their UltraGlow gas nitriding service. www.ahtcorp.com”

We regret to mention the passing of Rod Pressey this past week. Rod was the General Manager of Captive/Commercial heat treater Shmoltz & Bickenbach in Windsor, Canada for a number of years before the plant shut down with much of the equipment moving to another Shmoltz location in Carol Stream, IL, USA. We say that much of the equipment was moved to Carol Stream-this is only partly correct. The very large 10 bar Ipsen vacuum furnaces seen in the background in this picture had holes drilled in the shells, were then cut in half and the scrap sent to different scrap dealers such was the paranoia that another user would blow the furnaces up with Shmoltz being liable for any damages. In this photo Rod is on the left and Gunter Braus of Dibalog in Germany is on the right. Rod was a good man and he will be missed.

Thermal Process Holdings, Inc. (“TPH”) is pleased to announce Mr. Todd McDonald as President and Chief Executive Officer. McDonald will oversee TPH’s five current commercial heat treat operating locations, and work closely with the TPH leadership team to grow the organization and create a positive experience for TPH customers and employees.

“Having Todd in a leadership role is a game changer for us. He is an accomplished executive with a strong track record of delivering operational excellence and growth. Todd shares our passion for the heat treating industry and embodies our entrepreneurial spirit, and we are very excited to have him on our team,” commented John Hubbard, Chairman of the Board at Thermal Process Holdings.

Mr. McDonald previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Signicast, a global leader in commercial investment castings, which was previously owned by investment affiliates of the Pritzker Group. During his time at Signicast, the company experienced significant growth and improvement in operating metrics. In addition, he led the successful launch of a new state-of-the-art facility which, combined with Signicast’s seven other plants, created just under one million square feet of manufacturing space for their extensive captive heat treating operations. Signicast was sold in 2017 to Dynacast.

“I am delighted to join John Hubbard and the Thermal Process Holdings team, and I’m looking forward to the growth opportunities ahead of us,” commented McDonald. “Through my prior experience in the thermal processing industry, I’ve had a chance to work with some of the TPH companies, and am excited to partner with all of our employees to build upon the excellent businesses they’ve created.
Mr. McDonald earned his B.S. in Business Economics from South Dakota State, where he was also an All-American football quarterback. He currently lives in Hartland, Wisconsin with his wife and two children.

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.

ABOUT CALVERT STREET. Calvert Street Capital Partners is a Baltimore, Maryland-based private equity firm with a focus on investing in industrial service businesses in the lower middle-market. Since its inception in 1995, Calvert Street has partnered with skilled management teams of privately held businesses to drive profitable growth and organizational transformation. TPH builds upon Calvert Street’s experience in other high-value add industrial sectors, including testing and inspection and precision machining.

For more information, please go to www.cscp.com. Contacts, Julie Padgett, CompleteSpectrum, (813) 907-2150, [email protected]

The alloy industry consists of all those companies around the world who supply either fabricated or cast high temperature alloy components such as base trays, baskets, radiant tubes etc. And if you are involved with the alloy industry we can almost guarantee that you know Marco Moser either from his days as President of North American Cronite or as VP Business Development for Alcon Industries of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Well after 3 years and 4 months Marco has abruptly left Alcon and is looking for new opportunities-and with his experience we would assume he will find a new opportunity pretty quickly. We went through our file photos and came up with this one of Marco-he is on the right. This photo was taken at a Heat Treat Show in Germany back in 2016 where Marco was presenting Alcon to the European market, something which we never understood. For logistical reasons it is almost unheard of for a European alloy supplier to supply the North American market and visa/versa-since we have not seen Alcon exhibiting at any European shows since then we have to assume they learned this lesson.

In this webinar, attendees will learn about:

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Dr. Valery Rudnev Biography. Dr. Valery Rudnev is the director of science and technology at Inductoheat Inc., an Inductotherm Group Company. He is considered one of the leading global figures in the induction heating and heat treating industry. Valery has more than 40 years of experience and is known within ASM International and among induction heating professionals worldwide as Professor Induction. In 2006, he was elected as a Fellow of ASM in recognition of distinguished contributions to the field of materials science and engineering. In 2017, the International Federation for Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering (IFHTSE) elected Valery as a Fellow in recognition of significant contributions to the development of heat treatment and surface engineering. He has authored and co-authored numerous chapters for nine handbooks devoted to various aspects of induction heating, heat treating, materials science, computer modeling, and innovative process development. His credits include a great deal of know-how, more than 50 patents and inventions (both U.S. and International), and more than 250 engineering publications. He has also served as a keynote speaker at many international conferences.

Now the beginning to this Monday Morning Briefing has little to do directly with heat treating but we just had to mention it since it has to do with Linamar. This international auto parts maker is one of the larger captive heat treaters in North America and as such we have mentioned them many times on this site (the photo below shows part of their heat treating department at Linamar Gear in Canada). “Well a group of workers at the company just won a $60 million dollar jackpot as you can see below; “Today, a group of nine co-workers from southern Ontario picked up a $60 million cheque. The auto parts production line workers won the Dec. 21, 2018 Lotto Max jackpot. “We’re a very close line – closer than any of the other lines,” shared group leader Ala Hirmiz. “We always talk and joke and celebrate each others’ birthdays. And now we get to celebrate this unbelievable win together!” The co-workers work the same line and the same shift at Comtech, a Linamar company.”

Solar Atmospheres Files Patent for 600 HP blower motor in Argon Gas; “Solar Atmospheres, Inc. has filed a Patent Application with the US Patent Office, application number 15/999,873 for a high pressure, rapid gas quenching vacuum furnace utilizing an isolation transformer in the blower motor power system. The gas quench with a 600 HP motor operates at 460 volts in Argon gas, utilizing a double wound, Magnetic Specialties, Inc. electrical isolation transformer, primary winding 1:1 to the secondary winding, with a Variable Speed Drive and solid state electrical spike protection for motor arc suppression.”

Heat Treating of Aircraft Landing Gear. A lifetime spent in the heat treating industry has shown us that there are many types of heat treating which can provide the same results-take aircraft landing gear as an example. Commercial heat treater and vacuum furnace manufacturer Vac Aero is the largest commercial heat treater of aerospace landing gear in North America. Their very impressive facilities utilize vertical vacuum furnaces with oil quenching manufactured by the company themselves-an example can be seen below. Landing gear manufacturer Safran one of the world’s largest chooses a different approach, pit furnaces with endo atmosphere and separate quench oil tanks-a photo is below. Both companies achieve excellent metallurgical results although the type of furnaces utilized are quite different.

John Principi, General Manager of Bodycote, Burlington, Canada retired as of December 31st, 2018. John has been GM of this facility for as long as we can remember- at this point no long term replacement has been named. This Bodycote location was formerly Nitrex Metals Technologies before it was acquired by Bodycote a few years back. Since that time the company has made very substantial investments in the plant including a number of new batch IQ furnaces. Remember the GM Enterprises, very large 2 bar vacuum furnace we listed shortly before Christmas (if not the photo below should jog your memory). As predicted it did not last long on the used market and is now destined to move from the aerospace rebuild facility where it was located to a commercial heat treater in North America.

GE India has now finished installing their brand new Ipsen bottom load vacuum brazing furnace. We mentioned this sometime back during installation and at the time commented on the color. While this is a very nice looking install the color hurts our eyes.

French vacuum furnace builder BMI has been having some success recently selling vacuum furnaces into Russia. During the last two months of 2018 the company shipped 4 new vacuum furnaces to Russia including an oil quenching furnace, a vacuum brazing furnace, an LPC furnace and a vacuum nitrider. While we know little about the Russian heat treating market we at “The Monty” will be attending the upcoming Exhibition “Heat Treatment 2019” and IFHTSE event September 17-19 in Moscow, Russia to learn more.