Straightening

Understanding the metal straightening process and its benefits can help you decide if it is right for your manufacturing needs. When working with steel, heating and quenching often causes metal warping. Therefore, steel straightening is essential to bring the metal pieces back within acceptable tolerance ranges to ensure optimal part performance. When using a machine for metal straightening, the steel parts are placed into a press where an external force is applied to straighten the parts. Primarily used after heat treatment, annealed or normalized metal items can easily be straightened.

Since the metal straightening process depends on material type, part geometry, and mechanical properties, there are some exceptions to metal straightening after heat treatment, including:

• Parts above 45 HRC can be difficult to straighten and increase the chance of cracking during the process. These parts should be straightened at or near the tempering temperature instead.
• Torch straightening is used for some steel components as a last resort as this method can alter the part’s physical integrity.

Since there are many metal types and different shapes for pipes, beams, and sheets that are required for different applications, there are a variety of ways to straighten metal. Two of the most common metal straightening methods offered by Northern Heat Ltd. include:

Tube and Pipe Straightening

Straightening tubes and pipes requires extreme care to avoid further deformation of the metal parts. To prevent the tube/pipe from developing additional imperfections, many fabricators fill the pipe with fine-grained sand and close the pipe’s ends. After preparing the pipe for the straightening process, heat is applied to the pipe to complete the removal of dips or warps.

At Northern Heat Ltd., we understand that steel straightening is a necessary step in the heat-treating process when working with metal. We strive to eliminate deformations and unnecessary curvatures to ensure the exactness of part performance using the best metal straightening method for your final application. Our knowledgeable team presses parts within a specified straightness to remove mechanical deformations and correct warping while meeting even the tightest tolerances.

Equipped with seven presses, our facility can quickly and effectively complete your metal straightening jobs. You can count on quality metal straightening work every time with our employees’ years of hands-on experience and our precise, high-capacity press operations. Northern Heat Ltd. is ISO 9001-certified and we focus on quality and precision metalworking. Contact us to learn how your products can benefit from effective metal straightening.