Steel Furnaces
Nabertherm heat treatment furnaces for steel are robust chamber furnaces designed for the heat treatment of steel and other metals in laboratories, workshops and small-scale production environments. Nabertherm’s N/H series is engineered for demanding applications and features a deep furnace chamber heated from both side walls and the floor. The models are available with chamber volumes ranging from 9 to 87 litres and maximum temperatures of up to 1280°C. The smaller models are designed as benchtop units, while the larger models are supplied with floor stands.
The three-sided heating provides efficient heat transfer to the workpiece and good temperature uniformity. The heating elements are mounted on support tubes, allowing unrestricted heat radiation and ensuring a long service life. The floor heating is protected by a heat-resistant silicon carbide plate, making these furnaces well suited for the regular heat treatment of metal components.
When heat-treating tool steel, the N/H furnace can be used for preheating, austenitising and heating to hardening temperature. Following quenching or controlled cooling, the workpiece can be tempered in a separate NAT or NA air-circulation furnace with a maximum temperature of up to 850°C. The air circulation ensures uniform temperature distribution during processes such as tempering, stress-relief annealing and soft annealing.
For processes requiring heat treatment under a process gas or with minimal oxygen content, Nabertherm offers suitable protective-gas boxes.
The furnaces are controlled using a modern touchscreen controller for programming temperature profiles. Process data can be recorded via USB and, depending on the selected controller, monitored using the MyNabertherm app.
Nabertherm steel heat treatment furnaces are used in tool manufacturing, maintenance workshops, and research and development. Common applications include the hardening and tempering of tool steels and machine components, stress-relief annealing after machining, and soft annealing prior to further processing.
A typical heat treatment cycle for tool steel comprises preheating, heating to the required hardening temperature, holding at temperature, quenching or controlled cooling, and one or more tempering cycles. The N/H series is used for the high-temperature stage, while a separate NAT or NA furnace provides good temperature uniformity during tempering. Tempering optimises the balance between hardness and toughness while reducing residual stresses in the hardened steel component.
Nabertherm can also supply a compact manual hardening system for workshop use. The system combines a hardening furnace, tempering furnace, and quenching and cleaning baths in one integrated workstation.
