Process
Heat treating
Two jobs share this name: stress-relieving a bent wire, and building the wire baskets that go into someone else’s furnace. This site quotes the second as a product. The first is specified when the alloy and the weld demand it.
Two different things
Heat treating the form — anneal or stress-relieve after severe bends or after weld, so the part does not walk in service or crack at a cold-worked radius.
Heat-treat wire baskets and rod frames — wire products that live in a furnace. Material is the process: 330 stainless, Inconel, and other high-temp alloys, usually in the upper half of 4–14 mm, often welded into a grid. The wire basket is the part. The furnace is the customer’s.
Mixing those on one capabilities line is how catalog sites confuse buyers. They are not the same quote.
When the form itself needs heat
- Heavy cold work in high-tensile or stainless at a tight radius
- Welded frames that must hold a hole pattern after cool-down
- A spec that calls out stress relief or a hardness after form
Mild 1018 frames usually do not get a furnace trip. 302/304 with a 1× diameter inside radius might. If the print is silent, do not assume a heat treat — it changes cost, color, and sometimes coating adhesion.
We explain the requirement and will say when a job needs a treat we do not run in-cell. Production quotes stay in the forming and join work unless the spec is explicit.
Wire baskets, fixtures, and furnace wire
Heat-treat wire baskets are a product of their own: diameter, alloy, weld, and whether the grid has to survive 1800 °F without sagging. Carbon steel is the wrong answer. 330 and nickel alloys are the usual right ones. Design rules still apply — radii and legs — but the material cert is the first page of the quote. See heavy-duty wire baskets.
Send the print with alloy and service temperature. Do not send “stainless wire basket” and expect 330.
Diameter still matters
| Diameter | Inch | Heat |
|---|---|---|
| 4 mm | 0.157 in | Stress relief is uncommon. Light wire baskets exist; high-temp grids are usually heavier. |
| 8 mm | 0.315 in | Common furnace-fixture wire. Alloy and weld beat diameter in the quote. |
| 12 mm | 0.472 in | Rod-frame and heavy wire-basket territory. Sag and weld quality at temperature. |
| 14 mm | 0.551 in | Structural furnace fixtures. Not a clip. Spec alloy, temp, and load. |
Related
- 300-series stainless — including 330 coil
- Resistance welding
- MIG / TIG assembly
- Heavy wire, 4–14 mm