October 3, 2025

New HIP

I keep asking myself how it is possible that I know that I know nothing. Even though I try to follow the events surrounding the heat
June 30, 2025

Vacuum Brazing

News are coming that always surprise me too. Janusz Kowalewski published statistics on the use of vacuum furnaces for the US aerospace industry. Brazing is in
June 18, 2025

LPC is not the same as LPC

It is not widely known that there is a big, I would even say fundamental difference between LPC from ECM and from SecoWarwick or BMI. And
June 3, 2025

European Conference on Heat Treatment Prague 2025

  The result of cooperation with VŠB Ostrava, Galvamet and a scientist/retired person in one person. Here I would like to thank doc. Ing. Tomáš Čegan
May 23, 2025

IRT M2P

When I wrote my blog on LPCN (Low Pressure CarboNitriding), I had no idea it would get such a response. However, I was just trying to
May 10, 2025

Zero Flow

So I have a certificate from a competitor….. Jiří Stanislav May 10,  2025
April 27, 2025

Ammonia and its use in heat treatment

The effort to improve the surface properties of low-alloy or pure carbon steels is quite evident. They are cheap, and nitriding or nitrocarburizing processes can improve
January 18, 2025

Nitrocarburizing and ammonia quality

Nitrocarburizing of steels belongs to a group of progressive technologies that enable surface improvement of low-alloy steels. The advantage of this process is that it is
January 8, 2025

Isothermal annealing differently

Isothermal annealing is a process that usually requires 2 temperatures. The first is the austenitization temperature, where we must be sure that the material has fully
October 14, 2024

LPC versus oil or gas quenching

In 2003 I visited the ECM in Grenoble for the first time. My interest was to purchase equipment with LPC for Bodycote CZ, and I was
August 29, 2024

How to choose the right furnace for tempering and annealing IV

When choosing a new furnace, we have to consider a number of criteria that I tried to describe in the previous chapters. In this last section,
August 25, 2024

How to choose the right furnace for tempering and annealing III

In this section, we will focus on the energy consumption of annealing and tempering furnaces. There are a large number of different designs of tempering or
August 20, 2024

How to choose the right furnace for tempering and annealing II

In the first part, we tried to define the furnace for annealing and tempering from the point of view of the surface condition of the processed
August 13, 2024

How to choose the right furnace for tempering and annealing I

In my past career, I well remember our constant battle between what the management wanted and what we wanted. Our first vacuum tempering B64R furnace from
July 29, 2024

Post-processing die casting dies

On my blog already in 2021, I published the theoretical course of the production process of the die-casting dies. https://www.jstconsultancy.cz/jak-na-zihaci-procesy-u-form-na-tlakove-liti/.  Since time has advanced, I am
June 26, 2024

Gencoa and OPTIX

On Friday I had a video conference with GENCOA regarding the OPTIX device. I am very happy that my expectations were met. Perhaps since sometime in
April 22, 2024

Replacement of multi-purpose furnaces with vacuum furnaces with low-pressure carburizing

After presenting a lecture on this topic in Wroclaw, I was approached by several people asking if I was serious. Yes, I mean it, and I’m
April 14, 2024

Carbonitriding, how to do it in LPC?

So, I made myself happy. I bought the iconic book Carbonitriding written by Bohumil Přenosil in 1964 year. Back then it cost 22.50 CZK, now I
March 15, 2024

Bivoj

Bivoj … When everyone says this name, Czech history comes to mind. But this name is borne by an in laser entered in the Guinness Book
January 25, 2024

TAV Vacuum Furnaces blog – Sintering of Cemented Carbides II

An interesting article on the production of cemented carbides was published on the TAV Vacuum Furnaces blog. Here is a link to it. Link to TAV
December 23, 2023

TAV Vacuum Furnaces blog – Sintering of Cemented Carbides

An interesting article on the production of cemented carbides was published on the TAV Vacuum Furnaces blog. Here is a link to it. Link to the
December 17, 2023

Carbon restoration in vacuum furnaces with LPC

As a philosopher would say, everything good is bad for something… Carburizing under reduced pressure, or vacuum carburizing or low presssure carburizing has the advantage of
December 10, 2023

Low-pressure Carburizing versus AMS 2750 and Furnace Class

I ran into a problem. A reputable supplier of low-pressure carburizing furnaces has supplied a brand-new vacuum furnace for this technology, but without the default TUS.
November 4, 2023

Vacuum furnace and its contamination

Vacuum furnace maintenance is an important part of vacuum processes. If everything is working, we tend to do nothing. However, as soon as a problem appears,
October 11, 2023

Bodycote did not surprise again..

The announced acquisition of Lake City HT and Stack Metallurgical Group in the US is something to be expected. HIP technology is the limiting factor for
October 9, 2023

ECM Flex and the future

In the current energy crisis, everyone is looking for some way to survive. Ipsen came up with his idea of hybrid furnace, where when green electricity
September 27, 2023

ISO 20431:2023

In July of this year, the new standard ISO 20431:2023, concerning heat treatment and quality assurance, was published very discreetly. Seemingly similar to CQI-9, in fact
June 25, 2023

Mega nebo Giga Die Casting

After visiting Thermprocess 2023 in Dusseldorf, I was left a little scared. At the Chinese company Fulcrum-HSS, I found a mention of the 14th five-year plan
June 4, 2023

TUS, SAT, náklady a Nadca 207

At the Heat Treatment Forum in Wroclaw, Janusz Kowaleski from Ipsen had an interesting presentation on “Choosing the right vacuum furnace”. All aspects of the selection
May 25, 2023

Nitriding for duplex coating

In 1992, I presented my doctor dissertation focussed on combination of Titanium nitride and plasma nitriding. So, it’s been more than 30 years since I tried
May 20, 2023

Vibration stress annealing

As I have long recommended this technology for testing thermal fatigue stress relaxation for die casting dies, I was a bit unhappy as I could not
April 13, 2023

EURO 7

Today, everyone started talking about EURO 7 and related developments in the automotive industry. What will be the effects on custom colorers? Let’s face it, minimal.
March 17, 2023

Bonal – a vibrational method of stress release

Although it is still not clear whether it works, it is only because no one has tried it in CZ yet. But nowadays, when we are
December 11, 2022

Die casting dies and 3D printing – a legal issue

As a forensic expert, I also deal with litigation in the field of the manufacturing and use of die casting dies. In this branch it can
October 17, 2022

Orthopedic implants

So this article, published on the EOS blog, really pleased me. By Davy Orye, Team Manager Additive Minds Consulting, EOS GmbH. https://www.eos.info/en/blog-articles/possibilities_for_orthopedic_implants And the reason for
October 7, 2022

Stress relief by vibration

Back in the days of Bodycote, I lectured on an alternative method for releasing internal stresses on die casting dies. At first glance, this method is
July 25, 2022

Nadca and 3D printing

After a long period of uncertainty, Nadca issued its publication No. 550 entitled “Tooling Certification for Die Casting, Die components fabricated by Additive Manufacturing”. I opened
June 9, 2022

Heat treatment after 3D printing and HIP

An interesting seminar of the Czech Association for Heat Treatment of Metals … June 9, 2022 Jiří Stanislav  
June 5, 2022

Nitriding for duplex coating

Duplex coating technology is based on a combination of nitriding and thin film deposited by PVD or PACVD technology (TiN, TiCN, TiAlN, TiB2, etc.). Because the
June 5, 2022

SHM Šumperk

Sometimes you come into the company and you know right away that you don’t belong there. The exact opposite was the meeting in SHM Šumperk. Although
February 27, 2022

Furnaces for heat treatment of titanium alloys after 3D printing

Last week I attended a webinar on 3D printing for medical applications. Among other things, Mr. Dalibor Vojtěch from the Institute of VŠCHT in Prague gave
February 3, 2022

Parts cleaning for Heat Treatment

The basic and always valid principle of industrial cleaning is only one: „the like dissolves and removes the like”, i.e. Non-polar (organic) contamination such as oils
October 29, 2021

How to perform annealing for die casting dies

An integral part of die casting dies manufacturing process is annealing. Its purpose is to relax stresses, caused both by different types of machining and by
October 2, 2021

Requirements for vacuum furnaces operating in Nadca 207 mode for die casting dies

Manufacturers of die casting dies should follow certain procedures under Nadca 207 to provide certain guarantees for their service life. In addition, they need a heat
September 13, 2021

Gas Quenching in vacuum furnace – part III

In parts I and II, I described the heating phases, the aim of which is to heat up the parts to the austenitization temperature and then
August 3, 2021

Heating of dies in a vacuum furnace, part II

In the first part of the heating, we achieved that the inserts are heated to a temperature corresponding approximately to the setup furnace temperature Tp =
July 12, 2021

Heating of dies in a vacuum furnace, part I

Correct heating in a vacuum furnace has some drawbacks. Its success depends not only on the heat treater, but also on the tool manufacturer. Therefore, in
June 2, 2021

Why do shaped inserts crack during hardening?

Sometime more than 20 years ago, I tried to find a model that I could show to the customer, and which could specify exactly why the
May 5, 2021

Case study damage of large tool by hardening process and compensation for damage in court proceeding

Introduction The heat treatment of the shaped insert made of 1.2343 ESU steel was ordered from the commercial heat treatment shop, vacuum hardening and tempering of
May 3, 2021

What is the optimal ratio between hardening and tempering furnaces?

Almost every day I learn from various sources that someone is selling to someone or someone is buying a new vacuum hardening furnace somewhere. However, information
April 16, 2021

Temper furnace selection and carbon footprint

What should such a tempering furnace look like? There are two basic solutions. Retort furnace and non-retort furnace with direct batch heating. Those who want to
April 10, 2021

Galvamet, a firm of great ideas

It is strange how limited one is by one’s view of the world of heat treaters. I went through many stages of this business myself, from