In this week’s edition of “The Heat Treat Podcast” the conversation is with James and Andrew Orr of “Penna-Flame” industries in Zelienople, PA, USA. The discussion focuses on Flame Hardening as well as automation in the heat treat industry. “The Monty Heat Treat News” is very familiar with this family owned business and we have a very high opinion of the Orr family. The Podcast can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvL-UNpn42w and our previous comments about the company dating back to 2017 can be found below.

 

“Flame Hardening Ain’t What it Used To Be; October 26th 2017 we posted these comments and are we ever glad we did as it opened our eyes a whole new world of Flame Hardening; “Flame Hardening-The End of the Line? Flame Hardening is a form of heat treating which involves heat being applied to a part by using oxy-acetylene or another gas. It is heated to the upper critical temperature before the steel is quenched with water. It is a surface hardening process used on medium carbon mild or alloy steels such as 1045, 4140 and 4340 such as crane wheels, cable sheaves and rollers. This is an older technology and very basic with little control over the end result. We mention it today because over the past few years we have seen a number of companies both captive and commercial heat treaters discontinue the process with the most recent one that we have run across being Thermex Metal Treating. There is nothing inherently wrong with the process but it is gradually being relegated to the fringes of the heat treating world along with technologies such as shaker hearth furnaces and Fluidized beds. October 24.”

As a result of these comments we were approached by a very friendly and knowledgeable fellow by the name of Andrew Orr of PENNA FLAME in Zelienople, PA who offered to show us how the technology has changed over the years. It turns out that Andrew’s grandfather Garrett Orr founded a commercial heat treat facility back in 1968 that guess what? Specializes in Flame Hardening, not only specializes by the way as they are probably the largest single flame hardening facility in North America with roughly 30 employees. As a result of this meeting we at “The Monty” visited PENNA FLAME this past week and it turned out to be a fascinating experience. What the company has done is to take an older technology, flame hardening and then combine it with robotic loading/unloading, computer controls and the latest in temperature monitoring and control with the end result that they have ended up with a process completely repeatable with very tight quality control all at a very competitive price (it is worth mentioning that the company themselves build and design the equipment on their own). They have been so successful over the years that earlier this year they a dded a substantial addition to their building with a number of new flame hardening systems. PENNA FLAME does business all over North America with parts coming from as far away as California and are able to heat treat parts up to 80,000 pounds and 80” in diameter. If you ever find yourself in the Pittsburgh area the Orr’s are a very friendly family and they would be more than happy to show you what they have to offer.”