Kentucky Heat Treating Co. Selects Solar Manufacturing For Their Newest Vacuum Furnaces
Solar Manufacturing announces the sale of two new vacuum furnaces to Kentucky Heat Treating Co. of Winchester, KY. This equipment was purchased to satisfy greatly expanding customer demands relating to various areas of tool steel processing. Kentucky Heat Treating Co., president Ed Stenger states, “We expect that these two new furnace additions will significantly enhance our overall processing capabilities and benefit our customers”.
The two identical furnaces are Solar Manufacturing Models HFL-3872-10IQ with work zones that measure 24” wide x 24” high x 72” deep with a gross load capacity of 2,000 pounds. The furnace insulation consists of 1” thick foil-faced graphite board backed by three (3) layers of ½” high purity graphite felt all supported within a heavy-duty .090” thick #304 stainless steel structure. The internal quench systems of these furnaces will achieve excellent cooling rates produced by the extremely high velocity of quench gas at pressures up to 10 Bar positive. The internal 300 HP drive motor and radial fan wheel will re-circulate quench gas directly into the hot zone and onto the workload through unique, tapered graphite nozzles and then through the all-copper, water-cooled, high efficiency heat exchanger. The furnaces have a maximum operating temperature of 2500oF and a vacuum system included for operating in the 10-3 Torr range using Stokes Model 412 and Model 615 vacuum pumps.
“Solar Manufacturing performed a significant amount of R&D work to prove the success of the furnace and the process being used by Kentucky Heat Treating Company’s customer. Through this unique cooperative relationship, we were able to ensure full hardness with minimal distortion throughout the entire load. We enjoy helping our customers with these types of challenges and thank Kentucky Heat Treating for the opportunity,” explains Peter Reh, vice president of sales, Solar Manufacturing.
