After blanking, our strip steel is hardened to the required degree in a three stage process. The steel is heated in sensor-controlled straight-through furnaces in a hydrogen atmosphere. This is followed by the ice-hardening stage at –80°C, and this is followed by a brief annealing stage to remove stresses. This high-precision process enables us to achieve the ideal mix of hardness and toughness, and very close tolerances of +/- 1 HRC are standard in our production processes.