Lucifer Furnaces delivered a dual-chamber, high-temperature furnace to Compacting Tooling Inc. (CTI) of McKeesport, Pa. The furnace, which will be used to heat treat high-speed steel, reaches 2450°F (1343°C) in the upper chamber and 1200°F (649°C) in the lower tempering oven. A combined 6.5 inches of ceramic-fiber modules with mineral-wool backup insulation allows for faster heating/cooling cycles. Silicon-carbide heating elements operate off-the-line through an SCR power supply with a current limiting circuit, which auto adjusts the voltage to elements as their resistance increases.

Heat-treating recipes can be stored in Honeywell digital temperature controllers with a seven-day timer. High-limit controllers were added for safety.

CTI, an ISO 9001:2008-certified shop, manufactures high-quality tooling for the powder compaction industry. The furnace, which is a custom size to meet CTI’s load requirements, will heat treat crucible particle metallurgy (CPM) high-speed steel. CTI does most of its heat treating in-house for faster turnaround time.