Furnacare Inc., a TAV Group Company, sold a TAV horizontal vacuum furnace with a maximum temperature of 2462°F (1350°C) to an international mint. The furnace, which has useful dimensions of 400 mm (15.7 inches) wide x 400 mm (15.7 inches) high x 600 mm (23.6 inches) long, has high-speed quenching with up to 25 bar of helium with an optional recovery circuit. A large pumping group allows for rapid evacuation of the chamber and high operating vacuum level. In addition, a closed-loop gas cooling system combines high flow capacity and pressure to guarantee fast and uniform cooling of the load.

SECO/VACUUM (SVT), a SECO/WARWICK company, sold a vacuum tempering furnace to a global manufacturer of cutting tools. The furnace, which will be used for tempering and stress relieving metal parts, is part of the company’s expansion and complements another vacuum tempering furnace commissioned earlier in 2019 at the facility. The horizontal, front-loading furnace has an all-metal hot zone for clean vacuum processing. It includes a convection fan and a pressurized gas quench for quick cooling.

Metal additive manufacturing or metal 3D printing are terms that everyone in the metal-processing industry is seeking to understand. The “what” and the “how” are becoming clearer every day.

Many factors come into play during the vacuum sintering process, from the size and materials used in the furnace hot zone to whether debinding and sintering processes are combined in a single unit.

Solar Atmospheres ordered a 12-foot-long car-bottom vacuum furnace with advanced pumping system and rapid cooling capability for its Greenville, S.C., facility. The 144-inch-deep x 54-inch-wide x 54-inch-high horizontal furnace is capable of processing loads up to 50,000 pounds. Manufactured by sister company Solar Manufacturing, installation is scheduled for early 2020. The furnace design features a vacuum pumping system capable of achieving an ultimate vacuum of 1 x 10^-6 Torr, which is crucial to the processing of titanium and other high-grade alloys.

Ipsen USA promoted Matt Clinite from Midwest regional sales owner to customer service sales manager. The position is new to Ipsen. Clinite will be responsible for building the Ipsen customer service sales team to provide the best in the industry aftermarket support for parts, engineered solutions and service.

SECO/WARWICK received an order for a vacuum heat-treatment and brazing system with high-pressure gas quench from Grupo TTT. The company, a provider of heat and surface treatments, will install the single-chamber furnace in its Bergara, Spain facility, where it will run a variety of processes. This is the fourth SECO/WARWICK system purchased by Grupo TTT, with an earlier installation in Europe and two systems currently in operation in Mexico. The system was selected because of its reputation for process flexibility.

Gasbarre Products Inc. (Gasbarre) launched a new website, www.gasbarre.com, with updated branding. As part of the rebranding initiative, and to more closely align with the end users of its products, Gasbarre has categorized its product offering into three business units: Powder Compaction Solutions, Thermal Processing Systems and Manufacturing Technologies.

Solar Atmospheres Inc. filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (application number 15/999,873) for a high-pressure, rapid gas-quenching vacuum furnace utilizing an isolation transformer in the blower motor power system. The gas quench with a 600-HP motor operates at 460 volts in argon gas utilizing a double-wound electrical isolation transformer, primary winding 1:1 to the secondary winding, with a variable-speed drive and solid-state electrical spike protection for motor arc suppression.

Vacuum sintering is one of the unsung heroes of industrial metallurgy. In this crucial process, materials are heated in a vacuum environment until they are almost at the point of melting.