Salt Bath Furnace

Although it may appear that General Metal Heat Treating could have invested in other types of modern furnaces with comparable prices and processes, we can offer you better quality heat treating and increased versatility with our Upton molten salt bath line.

General Metal Heat Treating's salt bath capability allows us to handle those really tough jobs — precision machined tool steel parts which are finished to size before heat treating, but require hardening to as high as 65 Rc with minimum distortion and dimensional change.

With our salt bath line we are able to selectively or totally heat treat gears or elongated parts up to 30" in length. Under special conditions, we are able to handle parts up to 40".

Because salt baths heat by conduction, rather than radiation, heat is applied more evenly and quickly. Since the bath temperatures may be readily adapted to a higher or lower temperature, General Metal is able to handle emergency jobs with minimum interruption in the flow of our work.

Mechanical part handling fixtures above the salt bath enable General Metal Heat Treating to treat a large variety of parts . For selective hardening, parts can be suspended so that only the portion to be hardened is immersed in the bath.

The Marquench, which is adjacent to the salt baths, allows for immediate salt quenching. Quenching is done in caustic, oil, austempering, or martempering salts at whatever temperature is required. Our Gleason 25 Pressquench, which is also within close proximity, has the capability of handling gears up to 24" in diameter.

Finally, along with the capacity of our straightening press at 100 tons, and our pit furnace capacity of 84", General Metal Heat Treating also features a water recirculation system, and a transformer and control room for the five salt bath furnaces. Each has its own set of controls that monitors temperatures, so quality control is documented for every job; and the individual recorders for each salt bath provide us with constant readings.

The story behind our success and improvement is selecting the exact temperatures and immersion times to achieve the desired properties, and in handling and fixturing the parts to maintain the required tolerances and minimize rejections. This valuable knowledge comes from the experience we have gained over more than 50 years at General Metal Heat Treating and the satisfied customers we serve.

For more information on heat treating processes, contact Frank Skully, Vice President for Plant Operations and Quality.

skully@generalmetalheat.com