Does Your Tooling Need Heat Treating Services?

What is Heat Treating?

Heat treating is a popular method used for preparing metals for a variety of applications. It’s a versatile process that enhances the strength of tooling, increases abrasion resistance, and improves hardness. Many companies can benefit from heat treating services, including the stamping, automobile, aircraft, electronics, and heavy equipment sectors.

The entire process involves heating the metal to a certain temperature, holding that temperature for a set period of time, and then cooling according to specific methods, which will depend on the material. Some metals will cool slowly inside the furnace, while others will be quenched to speed up the cooling process. Temperatures can range as high as 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit, and the process may last from a few seconds to several hours.

There are different types of heat treating — the most common are hardening, annealing, and tempering. So, what are the differences between these processes and when are they used? Let’s dive into the specifics.

Hardening

Hardening is the process by which heat treatments are employed to harden an alloy. Hardenability is the capability of an alloy to be hardened by heat treat. There are several hardening treatments; the treatment you use will be dictated by the type of metal.

Annealing

When annealing metal, it’s heated to a predetermined temperature, then cooled slowly, until it reaches its normal range. This makes the metal softer and more malleable for machine work.

Tempering

Tempering reduces brittleness in metal by reducing internal stresses. The hardening process can cause the metal to become brittle, which is why tempering is often performed after hardening.

Does Your Tooling Need to Be Heat Treated?

Heat treating is crucial to ensuring the longevity of your tooling. When your tools undergo heat treatment, they get stronger and more durable. In the long run, you’ll save money if you opt for heat treatment. It’s much cheaper to maintain existing tooling rather than create it again from scratch. With heat treating services, you won’t have to replace your tooling as quickly and will avoid costly downtime.

Work with Pivot Precision for Your Heat Treatment Needs

As an ISO 9001:2015 certified provider of precision tooling, we’re well-versed in quality heat treatment, along with other services. We regularly work with companies in the automotive, medical, ammunition, and firearm industries, and can comply with Mil-Spec, medical, and automotive standards, if required.

For more than 50 years, we’ve delivered short lead times on demanding specifications and high complexity tooling. As our facility is located in Niagara Falls, New York, it puts us in close proximity to airports and interstates for quick delivery on international and domestic shipments.

Start the Process Today

Our team sustains a culture of meeting challenging specifications and delivering the highest quality tooling for our customers. We’re ready to do the same for you. Contact us to get started today.