Happy New Year!

Making a Christmas debut... our new Lucifer Furnaces' hat!

This Top Loading Model 2020GT was just put into use at a Southern University for classroom instruction.  With a chamber size of 36"x12"x12" it operates with inert atmosphere

Hardening in the upper chamber of a Lucifer Furnaces Red Devil furnace

The Glow

Uniformity testing at 1800°F.. Lucifer Furnaces aglow...

Heat Treat Wheel

a unique, creative way to put together a whole lot of information about heat treating. The section on Process Controls & Instrumentation is especially useful.

Building a large freestanding control panel for a Lucifer High Temp Heavy Duty Box Furnace

IMTS success

Great meeting so many folks at IMTS!
The #1 comment we heard at the Lucifer Furnaces booth:
"I need to bring my heat treating in-house"
with a follow up about "shortening turn-around time", "controlling costs", "insuring quality"

http://amp.digitaledition.asminternational.org/issue/370603/58

Operational Principles of Flowmeters

Something worth reading if you're heat treating with inert atmosphere

Greater Philadelphia     Manufacturing Summit

 

Join us on October 1, 2014 for the Greater Philadelphia Manufacturing Summit, Energize Your Spirit of Competition.  With over 25 exhibitors, presentations by industry leaders and experts, you will have the opportunity to see and hear how manufacturing, once considered a dying sector, is a healthy and diverse economic powerhouse that supports over 150,000 jobs, and contributes millions to the regional economy. U.S. manufacturing exemplifies the American competitive spirit and innovative passion that drives progress and growth, and is alive and well in Greater Philadelphia!

 

Get inspired, celebrate advanced manufacturing, and learn the latest best practices to support business growth, continuous improvement and workforce development.           

 

IMTS 2014 update: Come visit Lucifer Furnaces at booth 6468 in the North Hall!  Bring questions about your heat treat applications and talk with sales manager Robert Hauser and President Larry Jones to learn how Lucifer Furnaces can customize our heat treat furnaces and industrial ovens for you.  On display will be a variety of furnace models including the Space Saving Dual Chamber 8000 Series, historically known as the “tool room champ”.  The top chamber of Lucifer’s dual chamber furnace hardens metal up to 2300°F and is independently controlled from the lower tempering chamber which can heat to 1600°F.  The lower chamber is built with a fan to recirculate air past heating elements and through the stainless steel lined chamber for uniform heat.  Lucifer Furnaces can customize each unit with the door arrangement that best fits your needs.  Equipment to optimize furnaces for individual applications include overtemperature safety systems, chart recorders, quench tanks and computer interface. Lucifer Furnaces’ full line of heat treat furnaces and ovens include high temperature box furnaces, recirculating ovens, top loading pot furnaces and bottom loading elevator units.

Trade Shows

If you're coming to IMTS in September, be on the lookout for this young man...he'll be happy to tell you all about Lucifer Furnaces and help you select the best furnace options for your heat treating needs.

Looking forward to building 5 furnaces for a leading materials lab on the East Coast.

Announcing Lucifer Furnaces' T-Shirt Give-Away... Send in photos of your Lucifer Furnace and we'll send you a shirt (restrictions apply).  It's that simple.  Below is the fine print...

Photo must be of full furnace (top to bottom, left to right) unless exception is approved.

Sender must indicate if Lucifer Furnaces has permission to use photo for advertising (photo only or phone plus Company name)

Please send details!  Your heat treat application, your comments, etc.. and more importantly, your t-shirt size.  If it's a great story, maybe we'll send you 2 shirts. 

Photos with people in them are definitely acceptable.

Lucifer Furnaces Inc. reserves the right to end this promotion at any time.

Send photos to Ljones@LuciferFurnaces.com

It's always good to read "The Monty", a monthly online collection of heat treating news.  This month's discussion of "Lights Out Heat Treating" .. an automation type process.. is very interesting.

Gloves - tongs - foil wrap
Accessories for heat treating
Give us a call.. we have them in stock!

University of Washington students select Lucifer Furnaces

Maintain your thermocouples !

Industrial Heating wrote a great summary on why thermocouple maintainance is so important

Heating Element design makes a difference

Lucifer Furnaces - Heating Element Design
Watch our latest YouTube video to learn about the advantages of Lucifer's heavy gauge, low watt density heating elements in easy-to-replace panels for heat treating tool steels.

September 8 thru 13, Chicago
Lucifer Furnaces will be there.. hope to see you too!

Lucifer Furnaces makes box furnaces:
Red Devil Series - economical well built, long lasting furnaces
7000 Series - general purpose box furnaces - built as bench or floor models
5000 Series - large, heavy duty box furnaces
LI Series - fiber lined box furnaces for lower power use and faster heat up

"Often imitated, never duplicated"....even true in the furnace industry.
and "the devil's in the details"  ... that's a good one!
choose wisely....

Great discussion on NADCAP  in today's Heat Treat Forum. Lucifer Furnaces is also asked..."Can you build a NADCAP furnace?"  In short:  furnaces aren't certified, companies are.  If your company wants a NADCAP certification, or accreditation, your company needs to document your process.  What you might need to show is that your heat treating chamber is uniform +/- a certain temperature range...  There are certain uniformity specifications you may be required to meet.. for example AMS 2750.  It's important to communicate to whomever builds your furnace if you need to meet uniformity requirements.  

What exactly is a Dual Chamber Furnace?

Dual Chamber furnaces typically have an upper chamber for hardening parts conveniently stacked above a lower tempering oven for stress relief.  Both chambers are the same size.  There's room below for a rolling quench tank as well.  Dual Chamber furnaces are great when the shop floor is crowded because of their small footprint.  The furnace pictured here has a manual vertical lift door.  While some furnace manufacturers may have 2 separate units on a cart like structure, Lucifer Furnaces make a sturdy, one piece dual chamber unit with heavy gauge reinforced steel for a much cleaner, longer lasting piece of equipment.  

Series 8000 - Lucifer Dual Chamber Furnaces

Want to see our furnaces being built?  Check out our YouTube videos!  You can learn about Lucifer's Red Devil Dual Chamber furnace and Lucifer's Red Devil Box furnace as well as our Heavy Duty 5000 Series furnace line...

Lucifer Red Devil Box Furnaces
Lucifer Red Devil Dual Chamber Furnaces
Lucifer Series 5000 Heavy Duty Box Furnaces

More to come in 2014....

Our new ad appearing in Industrial Heating. So many customers call about taking control of their heat treating...

“Should have bought a Lucifer”  we want to say when a customer calls looking for help.. the manufacturer of their heat treating furnace/oven can’t be found… their phone calls & emails have gone unanswered… they need parts because their furnace is down.. time & money being wasted.. they’re frustrated!  Sometimes we can help.  We can always try.  Lucifer Furnaces, Inc. is open for business and plans on staying that way.. family owned and operated and successful in making the transition to the next generation.  Give us a call or send those photos and we’ll see if we can help.

Damage from shipping – never fun.  As one shipper’s agent lamented “everyone suffers; the manufacturer, the customer & the shipper”.  Manufacturers put warnings and notices about inspecting for damage before signing the Bill of Lading.  Delivery drivers are always rushing..  wanting receivers to sign so they can continue their deliveries.  Shipping companies claim a clear BOL is evidence damage was done by receiver post delivery.  Customers just want their purchase up & running…  Lucifer Furnaces stands behind their heat treating furnaces and ovens … each one custom made-to-order from the ground up.  After a multipoint inspection and thorough testing, our furnaces and ovens are packed for long distance travel; the chamber is bracketed and supported to withstand the shaking of a truck ride, the units are secured to a custom built pallet and wrapped thoroughly with multiple layers of various packing material.  Care is taken to protect the edges; additional crating occurs for reasons including overseas shipping.

Ever wonder … what’s the difference between an electric fired furnace and a kiln?

Although furnaces and kilns both provide a source of high temperature to process materials, their difference lies in intended application and construction.

Kilns are typically associated with heating pottery and ceramic wares. They’re intended for periodic use whereby the kiln is loaded with material at room temperature, slowly heated to an elevated temperature and then automatically shutting off to begin a slow cool down to ambient temperature. Kilns are designed with lower power (KW) and thin gauge heating element coils supported in grooves cut into the insulation of the chamber. Kiln construction features thinner walls of insulation; the shell is assembled with lighter gauge metals.

Furnaces are generally designed for heat treating metals at temperatures above 1400°F. A furnace is heated to temperature and remains at set point for extended periods or on a continuous basis. Parts being heated are loaded/unloaded while the furnace chamber soaks at temperature. The furnace chamber provides uniform heating with precision temperature control. Furnace construction is heavy duty with multi-layered walls of insulation, heavy gauge heating element coils mounted in removable holders, and higher power ratings for faster heat up and load recovery rates. In addition, furnaces are commonly designed for operation with protective atmospheres for achieving various surface finishes on the metals.

Manufacturing 2014 - January news posts are full of predictions for the upcoming year.  This year the posts are positive.  They say companies are moving forwards with plans to renovate and expand.  Corporate Executives are giving the green light to projects that have been put on the back burner.  The trickle down effect to small companies means more business.  Lucifer Furnaces will chime in on the rosy outlook.. new furnaces orders come in steadily from companies small and large, both production and research facilities. Customers are keeping up with maintenance of their furnaces and ovens by replacing heating elements, thermocouples, etc...  Signs are it will be a good year!

Just delivered this heat treat oven to a customer. It's designed for operation with inert atmosphere.   A rear mounted fan generates a horizontal air flow for uniform heat.  The stobe light mounted on top of the control panel provides visual notification when a cycle is complete - a welcome addition in a noisy shop.

Mark your calendars.. come visit Lucifer Furnaces at IMTS 2014 in Chicago-September 8-13.
We'll show you our Space Saving Tool Room Champ Dual Chamber Furnace.

Lucifer Furnaces - manufacturing industrial heat treating furnaces & ovens -
Made in the USA - building the furnace you need for your application.