The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed penalties of $1,326,367 to Dowa THT America Inc. – a metal heat-treatment company based in Bowling Green, Ohio – after the company exposed employees to atmospheric, thermal, electrical and mechanical hazards as they performed maintenance inside heat-treating furnaces. In addition to the penalties, OSHA placed the company in the Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

OSR Inc., a manufacturer of automotive fasteners, plans to increase its manufacturing production in Columbus, Ind. The company, a joint venture between Japan’s Owari Precise Products Co. and Columbus-based Rightway Fasteners Inc., will invest $7 million to construct and equip a new 82,395-square-foot manufacturing facility. OSR plans to add up to 12 new positions and is hiring immediately for positions in heat treatment and IT. Production is scheduled to increase at the beginning of 2020.

No. 1042 is a 2000°F (1093°C), gas-fired, heavy-duty furnace designed for heat treating.

Metlab isn’t your typical commercial heat treater. Founded in 1928 as a manufacturer of aluminum spars for biplanes, the company is credited with the patent for the first drop-bottom gantry furnace.

Armil CFS Inc. shipped a natural-gas-fired pusher furnace to a European manufacturer of investment castings for the medical industry. The two-row, high-production furnace will be used for the burnout and preheating of investment casting molds. It has an operating temperature range of 1650-2100°F (900-1150°C). Residual wax will be consumed within the furnace chamber, eliminating the need for an afterburner. A recuperative combustion system will utilize a series of medium-velocity burners and a cross-flow recuperator operating in three zones of control.

AFC-Holcroft received an order from a Midwestern facility of a U.S.-based manufacturer of safety-critical fasteners and assembly solutions for a mesh-belt furnace. The new equipment will replace an older AFC-Holcroft installation. The furnace, which will be used in the production of metal fasteners, will integrate with existing companion equipment including a loading system, pre- and post-wash systems, oil quench and temper furnace.

We continue to review some of the most important materials in heat treatment and metallurgy.

Lindberg/MPH shipped an industrial box furnace to the technology industry, where it will be used for multiple applications, including annealing, austempering, brazing, preheating and solution treating. The Treet-All furnace, which has a maximum temperature rating of 2050°F, has work-chamber dimensions of 12 inches wide x 24 inches deep x 12 inches high. It meets and exceeds industry standards for heat-up rates and outer shell temperatures.

Peters’ Heat Treating Inc. of Meadville and McKean, Pa., announced that Andrew S. Wilkosz has been named president of the company. Wilkosz has been with Peters’ Heat Treating for nearly four years. He previously served as vice president of operations, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company across all three facilities. Wilkosz is also a principal in Laser Hard Inc., a company specializing in robotic laser heat treating and cladding.

Lucifer Furnaces supplied several convection ovens to a manufacturer of small medical parts in the southern U.S. The ovens all have a work-chamber size of 9 inches high x 9 inches wide x 18 inches long and heat to 1200°F. Uniformity is achieved with recirculating airflow. A rear-mounted, heavy-duty fan directs air alongside wall heating elements and then through the work zone. Parts are protected from the heating elements with a 16-gauge stainless steel liner.