Toptech Polska, a precision metal components manufacturer, is bringing vacuum heat treatment in-house with a new furnace capable of high-pressure gas quenching at up to 15 bar. The investment will support hardening, tempering, and annealing of tool steel components while giving the manufacturer greater control over production scheduling, processing parameters, and component quality.
Toptech has ordered a Vector vacuum furnace from SECO/WARWICK, a global heat treatment equipment supplier with North American operations headquartered in Meadville, Pennsylvania. The manufacturer previously outsourced its heat treatment and will use the new equipment to establish an in-house heat treatment operation.
The compact vacuum furnace has a 400 x 400 x 600 mm (approximately 16 x 16 x 24 inch) work zone and a high-pressure gas cooling system using nitrogen at pressures up to 15 bar absolute. It will primarily process marking tools, type characters, punches, dies, and working components for stamping dies.
Bringing the process in-house is expected to reduce dependence on external heat treatment availability, simplify production planning, and reduce transportation of parts between facilities. Toptech will also be able to adjust heat treatment parameters based on material type, part geometry, and required final properties.
Management Board Member
Toptech
The high-pressure gas quenching system heats components under vacuum before cooling them with high-pressure gas. The process limits surface oxidation and decarburization while providing control over cooling, which is particularly important for tool steel components requiring surface cleanliness, dimensional stability, and distortion control.
“Our challenges were lead times and the production availability of the external company to which we outsourced heat treatment,” said Jacek Targosz, management board member responsible for production processes at Toptech. “We also wanted greater control over the quality and service life of the components we manufacture.”
In addition to supporting its own production, Toptech plans to use the furnace to provide vacuum heat treatment services to other companies in its region.
Press release is available in its original form here.
