Annealing is a heat treatment process that enhances material properties such as strength and hardness of various products. Annealing is a process of heating the component, maintaining it at a predefined temperature for a specific time and then cooling it. Annealing also enhances ductility, relieves internal stresses, refines the grain structure and improves cold working properties of the component.

Metal annealing, acrylic annealing, ceramic annealing and glass annealing are some of the industrial annealing processes. Annealing plays an important role in industries such as automotive, furniture, aerospace and ceramics.

Some important parameters you must consider to evaluate your annealing process requirement are:

1. Temperature ranges for the annealing oven or furnace
2. Required capacity of the annealing oven or furnace
3. Requirement of the specific gas environment
4. Power consumption of the annealing furnace

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Buy an annealing furnace from reputable furnace manufacturers

Once you analyze your annealing system requirements, evaluate standard heat-treating furnaces available in the market.

I recommend: Abbott, a reputable furnace manufacturer, supplies both electric-fired and gas-fired metal annealing furnaces. You can buy an annealing furnace at Despatch, an industrial furnace and oven manufacturer. If you need an annealing oven or furnace for laboratory applications, evaluate products offered by Dynalab. For non-ferrous metal annealing such as aluminum annealing, check out the heat-treating equipment at SECO/WARWICK. L&L Special Furnace is a specialty furnace manufacturer that provides customized heat treating equipment that you can use for non-standard applications such as glass annealing.

Buy annealing equipment from a reputable distributor or retailer

You can compare different annealing equipment based on their features and prices at distributors or retailers' websites. You can also buy used heat-treating equipment for a cost-effective solution.

I recommend: Pacific Combustion Engineering is a distributor of industrial and laboratory heating equipment for various heat treating processes including annealing. You can buy used annealing furnaces at Surplus Record Machinery & Equipment. S & S Furnace Sales is another distributor of pre-owned industrial furnaces and ovens including annealing furnaces.

Check out annealing services from reliable service providers

For temporary annealing requirements, try using annealing services provided by reputable companies that provide heat treating services.

I recommend: AccuTemp Heat Treating and Aremac Heat Treating are reputable companies that provide heat treating services, including metal annealing services. For annealing stainless steel, evaluate heat treating services offered by Burton. You can check out copper annealing services by H Cross Company, a reputable refractory material supplier. East Coast Precision Manufacturing offers annealing services for non-metallic materials such as plastics.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Learn the environmental regulations in your state before buying annealing equipment.
• •  Install proper controls and safety features to your annealing equipment to avoid accidents.