LMC Industries has announced that it has expanded its equipment cadre with the introduction of a Lucifer Dual Chamber furnace. The company will utilize Model HL82-H24 to process tool steels at its TS16949 facility.
Lucifer Dual Chamber Furnace
According to Tool Room Manager, Max Vogl, the company required a furnace for using in its tooling plant that helps both its molding and stamping divisions to enhance the turnaround time of heat treating process during weekend and emergency circumstances and to save the cost of supplying the heat treat. Max added that the Model HL82-H24 has been selected for the facility as it provides the flexibility of heat treating various tool steels, including powder metals like CPM. After numerous researches, LMC founded Lucifer to be the best fit for the firm and was suggested by a local steel and tool shop provider.
The 9”x12”x24” upper chamber was constructed with 5”of mineral wool block insulation and multilayered firebrick to promote energy efficiency and reduce outside shell temperature, and heats to 2300°F. Door and side walls in removable panels are mounted with heating elements, which can be easily replaced. These panels having V grooves are open to coils, enabling higher radiation and rapid heat response.
Additioanlly, the vertical lift counterweighted door can be operated by cranking with hand. A lower tempering chamber was constructed with 4.5” of mineral wool block and insulating firebrick and can heat to 1200°F. The work chamber is created with a 16 gauge stainless steel liner. It is fixed on board using a 1/6 hp motor re-circulating alloy fan to control the heated air in a parallel flow model, while separating heating elements and the workload. A horizontal swing door having safety micro switch, a cam lock and 5” of insulation is fitted to the lower chamber. Honeywell UDC 2500 is a digital time proportioning temperature controllers, based on microprocessor, and controls both the chambers. The upper chamber is fixed with a separate high-limit controller.
Max intends to utilize the furnace to separate the white cast layer, after completing the WIRE EDM processes through die sections and tempering punches that can minimize chipping during the stamping procedure, and to integrate in its Preventative Maintenance program the tempering of die sections and punches so as to relieve the tension accumualted by stamping, and this can result in punch breakage if left undone.