Cryogenic Treatment for Cambridge Precision Engineering and Research Teams

Cambridge is forty minutes from us and full of people who care about metal behaving predictably: instrument makers, precision machinists, scientific equipment builders and university research groups. This post explains where deep cryogenic treatment fits in that world, which is less about making things tougher and more about making them stable, and how we work with research customers who need treated samples.

Stability is the Cambridge problem

In most of our work the headline benefit is wear resistance. In precision engineering it is often dimensional stability. A component that has been cast, forged, welded or heavily machined carries internal stress, and that stress can release itself slowly over weeks or months as the part moves. For a fixture, a gauge, a mount for optics or a thin walled housing, that movement is the enemy.

Deep cryogenic treatment relieves that stress in one controlled cycle rather than letting it leak out over time. The part comes back the same size and the same finish, but it stays that way.

Tooling in small, high value batches

Cambridge shops tend to run small batches of difficult materials: stainless, titanium, Inconel, tool steels and hard aluminium alloys. Tool cost per part is high and tool changes break concentration on a long cycle. Treated carbide and HSS tooling holds its edge longer and, because the whole tool is treated rather than coated, every regrind brings back the full benefit.

We treat drills, end mills, reamers, lathe tips, slitting saws, broaches and form tools. A box of tooling every month or two is the usual pattern for a shop of that size.

Working with research groups

Cryogenix has sponsored cryogenic research at the University of Leicester for many years and we are used to academic customers. If you need a batch of samples treated to a defined profile for a materials study, tell us the material, the geometry and what you are measuring. We run a computer controlled cycle to around minus 195 degrees Celsius with slow ramps and the chamber only ever contains nitrogen gas, never liquid, so there is no thermal shock to confound your results.

Our Research page lists published work on steels, aluminium alloys including 7075 and 6082, copper conductivity, brake rotors and piston rings, which is a useful starting point for a literature review.

Aluminium and copper, not just steel

Steel gets the headline change, with retained austenite converting to martensite and fine carbides forming. Non ferrous metals do not do that, but they still benefit. Aluminium alloys show better dimensional stability and wear resistance after treatment. Copper shows improved conductivity, which is why audio and electrical customers send cables and busbars. For a Cambridge instrument maker working in aluminium housings and copper conductors, both matter.

Fixtures, jigs and gauges

The parts most often forgotten are the ones that measure or hold other parts. A welded fixture or a machined jig carries a lot of locked in stress and will drift as it ages, taking your repeatability with it. Hard gauges and setting pieces have the same problem on a smaller scale. Treating them once, after final machining and before any lapping or plating, settles the metal so the reference stays a reference.

For a shop chasing microns, this is often the highest value use of the process, because one drifting fixture quietly costs more than a drawer of worn end mills.

Getting parts to Yaxley from Cambridge

We are at the Enterprise Business Park in Yaxley, just off the A1(M) south of Peterborough. From Cambridge it is the A14 and A1(M) and about forty minutes. Drop off is welcome, which suits delicate or high value items you would rather not courier. Otherwise FedEx next day works well. We run a process roughly every four weeks and the date is always on our website.

Frequently asked questions

Does cryogenic treatment alter tolerances on finished parts?

No. Parts return dimensionally unchanged and visually identical. The point for precision work is that they then stay that way, because internal stress has been relieved.

Can you treat samples to a specification for a research project?

Yes. Tell us the material, geometry and what you intend to measure and we will advise on how to run and record the cycle.

Is Cambridge within drop off distance?

Yes, around forty minutes via the A14 and A1(M). Phone ahead and bring the parts to Yaxley.

Does treatment affect titanium or Inconel?

These alloys respond differently from steel, and the published evidence is thinner. We are happy to treat test pieces so you can measure the effect on your own application.

Cryogenix Ltd runs deep cryogenic treatment from Yaxley in Peterborough and takes parts from across the UK by post or in person. If you are in Cambridge and have a stability or tool life problem, send us a few test pieces first. Call 01296 920448 or email info@cryogenix-uk.com and we will tell you what it would cost and when the next run is.