Found a job, heat treating question

[hoffman]

Well, actually I have 2 but this is different. I've posted about my part time machine shop aspirations and I'd really hoped to find work making some sort of widget but this came up.
The facts:

Furnace/rockwell tester costs $2000 (lists for $23,000) Fuel aint free...

Job pays .30/piece and they do 2500 every 3 months

Not a beginner job, d-2 discs 3" dia x .125 thick. They've had warpage problems in the past. Hardened to 50 R. (But they have no way to test hardness. If they work it's OK)

This is a shop I used to work at as a machinist.

Whaddayathink?


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Hoffman in Warner Robins Ga

[This message has been edited by hoffman (edited 03-07-2005).]

[cuemaker]

Hmm, if my poor math skills are up to date, thats $750 every 3 months.

Doesnt sound like its worth the time. But what do I know?

[CCWKen]

I'm assuming the $0.30 is for hardening only and not to MAKE the disks too. Even so, thirty cents for heat treating is BS. D2 is tricky to begin with and you need to control your funace temp and atmosphere very closely. The tempering temp for D2 at RC-50 is off my chart so it's going to be way up there too.

Personally, I wouldn't do it for less than $1.00 a piece. It's not worth the time unless you have a furnace large enough to do the whole batch at once.

[hoffman]

Thanks. I talked to the manager, the owner (friend of mine) wasn't there...
I thought it sounded kind of cheap also Plus I have ZERO experience at this sort of thing. I may get the furnace anyway...
I was thinking that if I could pull it off the machine would just about pay for itself in a year. Fuel cost would be a factor also.
Oh yea, it's just for hardening them.

[madman]

Dont do it. Sounds like a ripoff.

[andypullen]

Hoffman,

What are the basic dimensions of your part? A buddy of mine has worked with D-2 for 30 years and it can be a real bi**h to work with. I'll ask him what he pays for his heat treat on his parts. Send me an email and I'll put you in contact with him if you like.

$.30 sounds awful low for heat treating...

Andy Pullen

[hsmike]

Hoffman,
Your parts should weight about .0105 # each. 2500 pcs = Appx 26.5 lbs. @ $3.00/lb that is $.0315 Each. Just watch for Minimum charge.( I use 4 heat treaters and the min varies from 40.00 to 75.00.
Did they give you a flatness spec? This is where you'll run into problems.

Good luck
Mike

[JCHannum]

I get about 1/4 pound each. 3" diameter steel weighs 24.03#/ft. 2.0025#/inch, 0.2503#/1/8".

2500 pieces at $3.00/lb. equates to $1877.34, or $0.75 each.

Shop it around to some other heat treaters and find out what they are charging for a frame of reference. I would expect the shop you are doing it for to have their markup, but it sounds a bit one sided to me.

[precisionworks]

I have parts EDM'd for a customer (complex rotary knife thingy), hardened, and ground. If warpage is a consistent problem, you might ask that the parts be made thick enough to allow final grinding to thickness after hardening. That way the parts are dead flat & right on thickness. Adds very little to per part cost, probably less than the cost of rejects/redos.

[hoffman]

There is a pic of the part here:
http://www.amermac.com/options.html

It's a regular part at the shop I used to work at. D2 about .125 thick 3" diameter. Since I'm building a shop in the same town (Bought a little place down there. Tired of city living...) I've talked to the owner about doing subbing some work for them because they just can't find any machinists and the old guard is retiring.
My thinking is that heat treating would be a good way to start in a small garage I already have on the "farm". No tooling would be a plus but I have NO EXPERIENCE doing HT. Sort of a black art you know... Plus it may fill a niche.
This is the furnace I'm looking at:
http://www.johnsongas.com/industrial/frn-multi.asp
The triple treat in the center. The more I look into it I figure this furnace is more a tool and die shop rig than a production furnace.
Thanks a million for the replies!
This may not be the thing to do but I was thinking about it.

Just wanted to add that there some very generous and talented folks here and I thank you all

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Hoffman in Warner Robins Ga

[This message has been edited by hoffman (edited 03-08-2005).]

[hsmike]

ooops My mistake...I took thick x thick x di x .224 Instead of dia x dia x thick x .224.
Dont you hate it when you do that...

Mike