The same piece of metal can be soft and malleable, resilient and springy or hard enough to carve stone. Those properties are tuned by carefully controlled heating and quenching.

Some aluminum alloys can be heat treated to obtain good mechanical properties, physical properties and corrosion resistance.

We offer a complete line of heat treating services, including:

Annealing, or heating a metal to a specific temperature and then cooling it at a controlled rate. This can soften metals and make them more ductile for cold working, and can help relieve internal stresses.

Hardening usually requires heating a component to a specific temperature, then quickly cooling it, either in air or in a quenching liquid. The type of quenching chemical can also create changes in the chemical composition of the metal, further enhancing desired properties.

Precipitation hardening, sometimes called aging, artificially recreates a natural chemical precipitation process that strengthens many metal alloys.

Tempering is a process in which a steel that has been hardened is heated to a slightly lower temperature and then cooled in a controlled manner. This can be used to preserve the hardness of a piece of metal while making it less brittle, or to give spring steel its “spring.”

See our full capabilities here.

Have a special heat-treating need? We can help. Contact us to get the process started.