​On an annual basis since 1997 “The Monty Heat Treat News” has been putting together a list of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America and on this list we find Lark Heat Treating in Houston, Texas https://www.larkheat.com/ which is the subject of this news item.

While Gord Montgomery of “The Monty Heat Treat News” has visited this location several times over the years it was time to revisit Lark and this visit took place last week. Matt Clark very kindly took the time to give us a very thorough tour of the company and point out recent changes. At the top of the list is the fact that the firm acquired adjacent land several years ago and in spite of bureaucratic delays it appears the company will probably start construction of a new facility later this year.

Other changes which were obvious was a vastly expanded vacuum heat treating department, additions to the nitriding area as well as upgrades to the atmosphere heat treat department. A number of these changes can be seen in these photos.

Matt Clark is a very open individual and he was very clear that he has ambitious plans, one of which is to create the largest commercial vacuum heat treating company in the southern USA-a plan which will include some of the largest bottom loading vacuums on the market (some of the equipment is already acquired).

While these photos show Matt Clark, Gord and Dale Montgomery in the various departments we should mention the rest of the team who were not included in these pictures. These include; Gene Clark (Matt’s father), Mark Banas, jack of all trades heat treat encyclopedia who has been with the company since 1981, Ruben Parga Plant Manager (and degreed Metallurgist), Ahmed Figueroa, quality department (and degreed Metallurgist), Greg Blackburn, office manager, Harold Gum, Induction Manager, Jesse Salas, Shipping/Receiving Manager, and Gabriel Duenes Vacuum and Nitride production Manager.

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