Spray or immersion cleaning machine, usually alkaline detergent plus rinse, that sits before and after the furnace. Prewash removes cutting fluid and chips that would contaminate the atmosphere or cause soft spots; postwash removes quench oil before tempering, which would otherwise smoke and stain. Parts must be dry before they enter an atmosphere or vacuum furnace.
Run them through the washer twice, they're dripping cutting oil and I'm not smoking up the IQ.
Also heard as
- parts washer
- prewash
- postwash
Related terms
Wet
Shop word for a furnace atmosphere with too much water vapor, meaning a high dew point and low carbon.
Soft spot
A small area on a hardened surface that reads lower than the rest, usually from uneven quenching.
Mesh belt furnace
A continuous furnace that carries parts on a wire mesh belt through heating, quench and wash in one line.