Metlab (Wyndmoor, Pa.) upgraded one of its largest pit carburizing furnaces, doubling its capability to carburize, nitride and quench and temper gears, bearings and other components measuring up to 14 ft in diameter by 12 ft long.

Metlab (Wyndmoor, Pa.; http://www.metlabheattreat.com) upgraded one of its largest pit carburizing furnaces, doubling its capability to carburize, nitride and quench and temper gears, bearings and other components measuring up to 14 ft in diameter by 12 ft long. The upgrade includes the installation of a nickel base alloy retort to maintain the appropriate furnace atmosphere, new burners and burner controls and other instrumentation. One of the first jobs handled in the furnace was carburizing, quenching and tempering two large fabricated gears to be used in the transmission box of an offshore steel rolling mill. Each gear measured over 11 ft in diameter and 3 ft tall and weighed 24 tons. The gears were carburized to an effective case depth in excess of 0.275 in., then quenched and tempered to a surface hardness of 58-62 HRC.