University of Washington Brings Heat Treating In-House with a Lucifer Furnace

Lucifer Furnaces, Inc. (Warrington, PA) was the equipment choice for University of Washington students who petitioned the dean of engineering for a model HL7-P36 for their Engineering Instructional Shop as a replacement for an antiquated, unreliable, smaller unit.

The new furnace, with a work chamber of 18 in x 24 in x 36 in will allow the students to heat treat more parts in-house. According to one testimonial, “Key to this improvement is the ability to program heat treatment cycles that can then be run automatically and accurately. Programming options include temperature, hold time, and ramp rate, allowing a student to achieve the specific crystal structure and properties required for their application. This also gives the ability to run long heat treatment cycles without constant monitoring by the user.”

Another student added, “This will provide a valuable learning experience in an important area of design and manufacturing that has previously been unavailable to students. In addition to heat treatment, the furnace can be used in casting and forging processes. This flexibility will make the new furnace a valuable asset to students both in and out of the engineering majors.”

Adds shop supervisor Kevin Soderlund, “A new oven with modern controllers will allow students to design parts that can be heat treated in house instead of sent out at a high cost per part. This furnace has a much larger capacity, allows for programming soak times and is safer to run.”

The University of Washington’s Mechanical Engineering Program in Seattle focuses on the integration of technological systems to solve practical problems. Students participate yearly in the Formula SAE Engine competition.

www.luciferfurnaces.com