Collective name for furnace furniture cast or fabricated from heat-resistant nickel-chromium alloys. Alloy is expensive and wears out by carburization, thermal fatigue cracking and sagging, so shops track its weight and service life. Every pound of alloy in a load has to be heated and quenched along with the parts, which lengthens cycles and loads the quench.
Half that load weight is alloy, so the soak's going to run long and the oil's going to get hot.
Rookies count only part weight; the trays and grids can weigh as much as the parts and still have to come up to heat.
Also heard as
- furnace alloy
- baskets
- fixtures
- trays and grids
Related terms
Charge
One batch of parts loaded into a furnace together, or the act of loading it.
Integral quench furnace
A sealed batch furnace with a heating chamber and an attached oil quench, run under protective atmosphere.
Seasoning
Running an empty furnace at carburizing setpoint after a burnout so walls and fixtures soak up carbon first.
Mesh belt furnace
A continuous furnace that carries parts on a wire mesh belt through heating, quench and wash in one line.