At the technological forefront throughout its history, Crucible can lay claim to many metallurgical firsts. In 1906, the first electric-arc melting furnace in the United States was installed at the Halcomb plant. This “Old No. 1” Heroult electric-arc furnace now stands as a designated ASM (American Society for Materials) historical monument at Station Square in Pittsburgh.

 

Rex AA steel, patented in 1907, was the first tool steel to include vanadium. Crucible owns more than 70 percent of all patents issued in the entire history of tool steel production, in addition to numerous patents for stainless steels, automotive valve steels, titanium alloys, super alloys, and even rare-earth magnetic materials. Crucible was the first company to commercially produce vacuum-arc remelted steels; the first to develop P/M (powder metallurgy) tool steels, produced by the patented CPM (Crucible Particle Metallurgy) process; and the first to develop and patent a titanium gas atomizer.

 

With a focus on metals technology and customer service, Crucible Industries plans to continue the tradition of developing new materials.