Heat Treatment, Stress Relief and Skilled Springmakers
It is fall, the leaves are turning colors, we are preparing for winter and the holidays, and springmakers are gathering in Las Vegas for SMI’s Fall Meeting and Tabletop Expo. Among the many topics to be covered during the educational sessions will be spring materials.
This issue of Springs will also share some important information on spring materials, as well as the related subjects of heat treating and stress relief. These topics are of special interest to me because as I began my journey in the spring business, I was a metallurgist (I think I still am).
The fact is, in the process of making springs, we are required to heat treat or stress relieve our products so that they work as they were intended. In many cases, it is as simple as just heating the material to a specific temperature. In other cases, we must take into account how and under what conditions we heat the parts, and how quickly they are cooled. As if all this heating and cooling were not enough to make life difficult for us, then what happens, in most cases, is the parts we were so careful to make change shape as a result of the process.
The good news for many springmakers is that the stress relieving or heat treating process required for a specific material is well documented. The even better news is that, in certain critical applications, the process can be part-specific, which can provide a competitive advantage. Keeping those “special recipes” for thermal processing as proprietary information can be the difference between a profitable spring company and a very profitable one.
We have all come across situations where a customer believes it is simple to make a spring, and some even try to do it. One of the things that makes our business unique is that we understand (or should) when and how a part must be heated, and how that heating will change the part. That special knowledge has been learned over years of experience. SMI can help springmakers in this area. We have a full-time staff member who understands the what-and-how of heat treating. SMI also provides vital information in Springs magazine, convention seminars and regional meetings, where you have the opportunity to interact with other springmakers who can help you through difficult heat treating problems.
I know that the information presented in this issue will be of use to each of you, but that is just the start. The more you get involved with SMI, the greater the opportunity your business will have to prosper.
