HIP and its propagation

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When I finished my career at Bodycote, I was wondering what to do next. Anyone who knows me knows that I am incapable of doing nothing. So I offered to help the Czech Association of Heat Treatment and Filip Vráblík with their education. The first idea was a seminar on the topic of HIP. At that time, few people knew about this technology, and only those who came into contact with aircraft engine parts were aware that it would not have been possible without this technology. And because we managed to put together a stellar team for the seminar, it really worked out. A secondary effect was that we met Quintus. It was 2019 and I already had several offers in my drawer. Including for QIH 122. Diameter 660 mm, height 1750 mm. Aleš Šlechta and I were big dreamers, but it was in this stellar technology that we saw the future of our field.

Then Covid came and everything was different. Priorities changed to survival. However, I think that this seminar was something like a kickoff to the future. And since I was also involved in the PBS project with ONE3D and HILASE, even if perhaps by mistake, I was waiting for the first news from the implementation to come. That happened the day before yesterday. PBS posted the first information on the installation of the largest HIP in the Czech Republic on Linkedin. And since this is already the third device from Quintus in a few years, Jim Shipley’s heart probably beats when he remembers me.

In any case, I am glad that I was able to experience this revolution in our history of heat treatment, and that I could contribute a little to it. After all, it is a device that can have industrial performance, and that has been missing in the Czech Republic so far. And because the project eventually took a completely different turn, so that I wouldn’t regret it completely, thanks to Aleš Šlechta, I started collaborating with University in Ostrava and Tomáš Čegan on the development of 3D printing of implants from Ti6Al4V and Dievar powder tool steel using HIP for post-processing as basic operation. These are small steps, but they are ours, and they have a huge future. And that’s why I know that anyone who buys a metal printer and doesn’t have the necessary post-operations will have a fundamental problem applying themselves. And I can tell you. When you visit such a workplace with 3D printer and see Star Wars action figures as the main application there, it’s a heart attack.

So I consider this PBS/ONE3D/HILASE project to be one of the greatest innovations that has been implemented since the revolution. Great work.