Abstract: In a method for continuous heat treatment of separated elongated metallic material said material is conveyed stepwise through a single furnace chamber. Said furnace chamber comprises a heating section and an adjacent holding section. In the heating section the material is heated up to a treating temperature and in the holding section the material is held at the treating temperature both in an atmosphere of forced circulation of hot gas common to both furnace sections. The temperature of the circulated hot gas is automatically feedback-controlled at the location of the transition between the heating section and the holding section, the hot gas being set into forced motion in a single circulating zone and being heated up in a single heating zone with respect to the direction of passage of the material.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for producing extrusion profiles of a desired length, including the steps of processing a billet of preselected billet length in a press, measuring the extruded length during the extrusion process, and either switching off the extrusion process upon reaching the desired extruded length and varying the billet length such as to obtain the optimum butt thickness, or switching off the extrusion process upon reaching the minimum permissible butt thickness and enlarging the billet length such as to obtain the desired extrusion length. The apparatus for performing the method includes a billet hot shearing unit which has an adjustable longitudinal feed stop and cuts the billets to length. The billets are supplied to, and are processed in, a press in which a first length recorder measures the butt thickness and from which the extruded profile is drawn out by an extrusion drawing unit. A second length recorder measures the extrusion length.