“Your recent posting regarding Mesh Belt Furnaces and CAN-ENG Furnaces contributions to these technologies was presented well and I can confirm that decent larger capacity used Mesh Belt Furnaces are as common as unicorn sightings.

My 25 years’ experience with CAN-ENG, has shown that systems with capacities greater than 3000 Lbs/hr simply do not go to the open market and in fact if available are transferred inter-company, moved outside of the user’s local geography, or disposed of for competitive reasons.  Over the years, CAN-ENG has supported several new mesh users who successfully located these systems for export into new growing markets.  In most cases, surplus equipment was made available because the user wanted to upgrade their existing Mesh Belt Heat Treatment System for more Efficient and Higher Capacity lines.  In the earlier days, CAN-ENG Furnaces Large Capacity Mesh Belt lines were 3000-4000 lbs/hr.  Today large capacity lines are 6000-7300 lbs./hr.  As you can imagine if the volumes warrant, users can significantly reduce their costs via economies of scale processing one line versus multiple smaller lines.

Further to this, I thought your readers would enjoy learning more about the evolution of CAN-ENG Furnaces Mesh Belt Heat Treatment Technology. CAN-ENG has and continues today to be a technology focused company. To that end in the mid-1980s, John Kay and Wally Bamford recognized the opportunity that Continuous Mesh Belt Furnace Systems offered to North American manufacturers, and they pursued it. As a result of a detailed global technology review, an agreement between CAN-ENG and Kanto Yakin Kogyo Company Limited (KYK) of Japan was developed.  KYK was to provide their larger capacity mesh belt design expertise and CAN-ENG was to build and commissioned the equipment for the local marketplace. Following this agreement in 1988, CAN-ENG was successful in securing four separate orders and successfully blended its own expertise with KYK’s furnace technology to build a hybrid Continuous Mesh Belt Furnace System for the North American fastener and small product production market.  These customers included B&W Heat Treatment (Bluewater), Thermo Treat (Bodycote), Metallurgical Services and Wrought Washer.  This was the beginning of large capacity mesh belt furnace technology development for carburizing and/or hardening, these earlier furnace designs used a unique herringbone pattern skid-type hearth to improve mesh belt tracking and eliminate wandering and reduction in part drop heights that prevent the intermixing and part damage potential.

As the equipment designs matured so did the advancements in designs and capacities.  CAN-ENG has always been a company with engineers at its core. Customers’ needs drove designs forward. Feedback from customers, enhanced servicing in the field with improved access and combustion designs. CAN-ENG’s Continuous Mesh Belt Atmosphere Furnace became more robust, more energy efficient and easier to maintain.  The struggle for industry dominance was being won and CAN-ENG became the North American leader for this industrial furnace.  The following thirty years has provided CAN-ENG the opportunity to continue to modify the CAN-ENG Mesh Belt (CEMB) design, building larger equipment for commercial fastener manufacturers, automotive and stamping industries and Austemper and Martempering processors. I included an advertisement that dates to the early 1990s that I thought you would find interesting.” Tim Donofrio, Vice President Sales at Can-Eng Furnaces International, Ltd