Vacuum Heat Treatment

At Specialty Steel Treating, we offer a wide range of specialized steel heat treatment options for your industrial material needs.

With our state-of-the-art vacuum heat treatment, we can give your metal components the essential qualities they need to perform at the highest standards. Compare our vacuum brazing and other services and work with us to select the optimal treatment for your steel and other metal products.

Benefits of Heat Treatment

A number of heat treatment processes benefit from our innovative vacuum furnace. This furnace is specifically designed to create the ideal atmosphere for heating, cooling and coating metal.

Other heat treatment options can become contaminated without a complete vacuum. Don’t let airborne contaminants or oxygen compromise your heat treating service, but work with a leader in state-of-the-art treatment options.

Some common types of vacuum treatments include vacuum oil quenching, pressure quenching, vacuum brazing, furnace brazing, and annealing steel.

Vacuum Brazing

Vacuum brazing helps you connect two metal pieces in a smooth, flawless joint. Our brazing service heats your metal components just below their melting points. A special filler metal is then melted and used to join the two pieces together in a smooth, dependable joint.

This service is performed in our vacuum furnace, which allows us to create a clean, flux-free joint in a low-contamination environment. Use our brazing and quenching service together to enjoy high-volume metal production.

Vacuum Tempering

Tempering can also benefit from the use of our vacuum furnace. Tempering requires incredibly precise heating and rapid cooling. This process, also known as quenching, creates hard steel that can withstand extreme applications. Your steel products are then gradually reheated to balance out the hardness with greater levels of ductility, depending on your needs.

Use tempered steel in welding applications or in situations where you need additional abrasion resistance. Grades can vary from 80 to 400, and our vacuum furnace ensures the highest levels of purity.

Vacuum Annealing

Create blades and cutting tools that retain their sharpness for longer with vacuum annealing. This process is a popular technique for creating blades, so you can see why it’s useful in other applications. Both the heating and cooling are carefully controlled to align the grains of your metal piece to achieve optimal levels of hardness without becoming brittle.

Consider using our annealing service for more than just cutting applications. For example, annealing is also a great way to strengthen thin metal wiring to prevent the grains from becoming too stressed.

Vacuum Carburizing

Do your steel products wear out quickly? Intense applications require products that can withstand impact and abrasion. Vacuum carburizing is a dependable way to improve low-carbon steel so that it’s tougher and more durable.

Use carburizing for your aerospace, rail or automotive components. Balance durability and machinability to prevent excess wear on your production equipment. Additionally, the entire process benefits from our vacuum technology because it prevents contamination.

Vacuum Nitriding

Finally, we offer gas nitriding in our vacuum furnace to create hard, corrosion-resistant components. Avoid the toxic nature of liquid-based nitriding and enjoy minimal or no distortion on your components. Our nitriding services can increase fatigue strength and hardness, while the vacuum system creates a clean work atmosphere.

Use this service to create screws, pistons, rods, pins, nuts and bolts in a variety of industries. Create reliable components that aren’t damaged in corrosion situations. Anti-galling properties keep your workpieces operating efficiently in these extreme environments.

To bring out the best in your metal parts and the products they make up, you’ve got to make sure they’re properly treated.

Benefits of Steel Heat Treatment

Vacuum heat treatment services offer a number of benefits for both the appearance as well as the overall structure of metal. Our steel heat treatment professionals here at Specialty Steel Treating are here to let you in on the great news and full range of advantages when it comes to vacuum heat treatment services.

Reduce Chances of Distortion with Vacuum Heat Treatments

For all its benefits, metal can sometimes distort, and you especially don’t want it distorting in a way that could cause an accident or any other kind of harm to users or those around them.

By investing in heat treating services, you reduce the possibilities of metal parts distorting, boosting the overall quality of products made with your metal parts.

No Need for Further Cleaning

Another great thing about vacuum heat treatments is metal parts don’t have to be cleaned again afterward. This goes a long way in saving you time and could save you money as well.

What could be better than metal parts that aren’t so easy to distort and look absolutely fantastic at the same time?

Metal Isn’t Scalded or Discolored

You don’t have to worry about metal being scalded when it comes to vacuum heat treatments. What’s more is this specific type of treatment doesn’t discolor your metal, which could result in a waste of resources as well as a waste of your precious business time.

Depending on your experience, you might already be well aware of how standard heat treating methods can sometimes wreak havoc on the physical and structural properties of metal.

Ready for More Forming

Going back to how vacuum heat treating can go a long way in saving you time, your parts will be ready for more forming after their treatment. You don’t have to wait over the weekend, which can result in your overall productivity falling behind. Now your parts are ready for the next step in the process, allowing you to take care of more orders and customers.

A Safer Way to Treat Metal 

Safety is of the utmost importance when it comes to treating metal, and treating metal in a vacuum is one of the safest methods you could utilize. Specifically, vacuum heat treatments don’t require the use of gasses that can catch fire, are pollution and oxygen free and can be completed without worrying about harmful contaminants.

In fact, the treatment method is free of any health hazards, making it easier for you to remain OSHA compliant and safeguard the health of your employees.

Improved Chemical and Mechanical Properties

Vacuum heat treating does much more for the overall chemical and mechanical properties of metal than those mentioned above. For instance, vacuum treated metal is resistant to corrosion and has improved hardness, elasticity, ductility and tensile as well as shear strength.

With these improved properties, you might find you have the capabilities to do more with your treated metal parts, which could result in a new line of products are new innovations to currently existing products.

Energy Efficiency

There’s no reason your metal parts can’t look great and have improved physical properties and not benefit the environment. Changes in technology have made it easier than ever for companies big and small to engage in more environmentally friendly practices, and vacuum heat treatments are no exception.

Not only is overall energy efficiency great for the environment, it’s great for your company’s overall bottom line and public image as well.

The experienced pros of SST have much more information to share about the wide range of advantages of vacuum heat treating. Take your metal parts and your business to the next level.

Work With Specialty Steel Treating

Contact us today to learn more about our innovative vacuum system. Discuss your heat treatment needs with our trained team of experts to discover how you can improve the performance of your metal products.

Create custom-made components that lead your industry and partner with us to treat the metal with industry-leading services. Find out how we can work with you to create a custom steel treatment plan.