Reduce Your Energy Costs with Our High-Efficiency Furnace Design.

Warping or distortion of metal parts inside an enamel furnace is typically caused by two things: uneven heating or an inadequate support system. If one part of the component heats up much faster than another, the resulting thermal stress can cause it to bend. This is prevented by a furnace with excellent temperature uniformity. The second cause is the conveyor or tooling. As the metal approaches its critical temperature, it loses some of its structural integrity. If it is not supported properly on its journey through the enamel furnace, it can sag under its own weight. At TIMS, we design both the furnace for uniform heating and the custom conveyor tooling to provide robust support, eliminating warping and distortion issues.

Reducing the energy consumption of an enamel furnace is a major opportunity for cost savings. The first step is to ensure the furnace is exceptionally well-insulated. Modern designs from TIMS use multi-layered ceramic fiber insulation that is far superior to older, brick-lined furnaces. The second step is heat recovery; systems at the furnace entrance and exit can capture escaping heat and use it to pre-heat incoming parts. Finally, an intelligent control system is key. A modern PLC with a PID controller will modulate energy use with high precision, preventing wasteful temperature overshoots. Upgrading an old, inefficient enamel furnace to a new, energy-efficient TIMS model often provides a return on investment in under two years from energy savings alone.

Firing enamel on cast iron requires a specialized enamel furnace due to the material's high thermal mass. Cast iron absorbs and releases heat much more slowly than steel. Therefore, the furnace needs a longer "soak" zone to ensure the entire heavy casting reaches a uniform temperature for a proper cure. It also requires a more gradual and controlled cooling zone to prevent thermal shock, which could cause the enamel to crack. At TIMS, we engineer the length, power output, and zone control of our enamel furnace systems specifically to handle the unique thermal profile of heavy materials like cast iron, ensuring a perfect, durable finish.

This is a dangerous oversimplification. While an enamel furnace must reach high temperatures, "hotter" is not better. The key to a perfect finish is not maximum temperature, but precise control of the entire temperature profile or "firing curve." Every enamel formulation has an ideal maturation point. If the furnace is too hot (over-firing), the enamel can become brittle, colors can burn out, and defects like blisters can form. If it's not hot enough (under-firing), the glass won't fully fuse, leading to poor adhesion and a porous surface. The goal is to have an enamel furnace that can hold the perfect temperature with absolute stability, not just achieve extreme heat.