[HSRick]

Anyone out there using induction heat treatment processing for H13 tool steel?
Had an "off the wall" discussion about using an induction tunnel coil to austenitize H13, followed by air cooling and then furnace tempering. Sounds good in theory, but is this possible for a production job?

[DrOrpheus]

You want to fully harden it? Seems a bit out there to use an induction coil to through harden something like that when vacuums do a fine job already. I don't know a whole lot about induction hardening, so maybe I don't understand. It seems to me it would take a lot of energy to heat something all the way through using that method, when there are other tried and trued methods out there. Try it out and see what happens.

[metalwerks]

How large are the H-13 pieces?

[HSRick]

I should have included some additional details in my query.
The reason induction heat treatment came up as a possible process is due to the nature of the product to be heat treated.....bar stock 1" to 3" diameter x up to 12 ft long. Plus, bars must be kept straight!

[heattreater]

Ahhhhh! One of my favorite statements..."keep straight". Even with induction, I'm not sure how straight you can keep these bars. What is the customer's straightness requirement?

I think there is a special vacuum furnace design called a "broach furnace" that is slender (small diameter working zone, but very long). I think these furnaces are specifically designed for this type of material and geometry. Sorry, but my induction experience is fairly limited.

[MetalDan]

A little late, but I'm new.
Absolutely, you can induction harden H-13 bar. Reminds me of years ago when we hardened jail bar by continuous horizontal scan...but that's another story. You just need 150 KW or so of low frequency input, insulated multiturn coils, and a means of linear motion. For straightness, bars should be rotated about their axis as they pass through the inductor. If the potential of the job warrants, roll straightening direct from the hardening operation can be added.