Turkish manufacturer of knives and rolls Yalman Knives ordered a Vector® vacuum furnace for hardening and tempering tool steel from Seco/Warwick. The solution has been delivered.
Yalman Knives, manufacturer of parts for heavy industry exporting its products to 25 countries, previously did not own a hardening plant. Due to the lack of an “in-house” furnace, the production cycle of parts requiring heat treatment was dependent on external entities providing hardening services. As a consequence, it meant problems with timeliness and production availability.
“Our product solves this problem, giving the customer independence and reducing the risk of delays that, due to the lack of strategic parts (shredding knives), slow down or other obstacles, blocked the customer’s further production,” said Maciej Korecki, vice president of the Vacuum Segment in the Seco/Warwick Group. “When using the Seco/Warwick vacuum furnace, the customer has the comfort of knowing that they are in control of such an important production stage, ensuring the availability of strategic components for end users. Therefore, having your own heat-treatment furnace in your internal hardening plant means independence, time savings, and a reduction of costs related to transporting the work to and from external companies.“
The advantage of the product delivered to Yalman Knives is that the working space enables the handling of oversized loads, thanks to the round heating chamber. Vector guarantees that very efficient processes can be conducted in vacuum ensuring the highest quality of processed parts. Thanks to the use of a graphite heating chamber, it is possible to obtain low heat losses and good temperature uniformity. The furnace is equipped with an efficient pumping system. A great advantage is the ability to carry out very efficient hardening processes, thanks to the use of high cooling gas pressures. Vector is distinguished by its compactness, economy, and ease of use.
This solution meets all the requirements for the heat treatment of spare parts for grinding equipment used for scrap steel before re-melting. The vacuum furnace, equipped with a heating chamber size of 600x600x900 mm, enables efficient heat treatment of satisfactorily large packages of shredding knives and other parts produced by Yalman Knives. It is a proven Seco/Warwick construction, which has been additionally equipped with a vacuum carburizing option.
The tool and die industry is one of the most experienced groups when it comes to vacuum heat treatment. Seco/Warwick will provide a solution that, thanks to its unique capabilities, can cope with this demanding environment. The furnace offers not only versatility but also the exceptional quality of the processed parts.
Yalman Knives is capable of the overall production process starting from raw material to finished product. The company controls every step of production from cutting the steel bar from their stock, machining, heat treatment, and grinding under one roof.
“The furnace from Seco/Warwick is bringing the hardening process to a higher level in terms of process design support and archiving their course,” said Ferhat Tuncer, managing director, Yalman Knives. “The new vacuum furnace not only improves and increases our processing capacity but will also make us independent of external entities. In the Vector furnace, distortions have been reduced by as much as 10 times lower than the results from commercial heat treaters. The furnace results at full load with 100mm thickness parts and the core cooling speed is 75C/dk at 8 bar show that the hardness difference is 0.5HRC at between all blades, not only one blade in different places. Also, the electricity consumption is lower than that of other furnaces on the market. It is also important that partial pressure heating can be maintained at 10 mbar. In my opinion, other producers of furnaces are unable to reach this level of precision. A small, compact, and in-house hardening facility is possible thanks to Seco/Warwick and their Vector furnace. I am convinced that it will be a significant change for our company, which will result in more efficient process management and, at the same time, guarantee high-quality finished work.”
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