HAYDEN, Idaho—Terry Thompson says a key to durability and performance rests in the deep cold of minus 315 degrees Fahrenheit—at least for the steel and plastic parts used in industrial machinery and tools.

At Thompson's two-year-old business, Down River Cryogenics West, metal and plastic "wear" parts—those often worn down from extreme stress and use—go through a process known as cryogenic treatment, which is undertaken to improve performance and extend the life of a part.

Down River Cryogenics West is located at 11100 N. Airport Road in Hayden, where it leases about 1,500 square feet of space in a business incubator operated by the Panhandle Area Council Inc. It employs three people and is a unit of Coeur d'Alene-based Global Vista Inc., another company owned by Thompson that imports industrial parts, he says.

"I think most people when they hear the word 'cryogenics' think of freezing people in the hope they can be restored to life at a later date," says Thompson.

Cryogenics, however, has nothing to do with those who've had their bodies preserved for the future, he says, adding, "The word for that is cryonics."

At Down River Cryogenics, it's all about making parts work better and last longer.

"The process works best on high-quality, high-alloy, heat-treated products," because of their chemical structure, says Thompson. Yet, he adds, "Any wear product is a candidate for this process. And in this day and age, it's a huge factor if you can make wear parts last longer."

Thompson says wear reduction from cryogenic treatment has been demonstrated in such parts as log-chipper knives for lumber mills, drill bits, roller-and-link chains, gears, sprockets, shafts, and saw blades. It also is effective on items not used in industry, including golf balls and clubs, lawnmower blades, and disposable razors, he says.

Down River offers to treat the first batch of a product for free—the number of items is preapproved by Thompson—to demonstrate the benefit to potential customers.

"Our track record is that in approximately 70 percent of the cases, we'll see at least double the life of (the product)," he says.

In addition to metals, parts made of what's called ultra-high molecular weight (UHMW) plastic have responded well to cryogenic treatment, he says.

Thompson says his clients include government entities such as the city of Spokane's sewer department and large corporations like Weyerhaeuser Co., which is one of Down River's biggest customers. He declines to say what annual sales revenues have been for Down River.

How it works

To treat a part, Down River puts the part in a computer-controlled cryogenic chamber that measures 60 inches by 18 inches by 15 inches, Thompson says. Liquid nitrogen then is injected into the chamber, and the temperature is reduced slowly to about 315 degrees below zero. That temperature is held for roughly a day and a half, which changes the microstructure. Then, the part is placed in a tempering oven and heated. The tempering locks in the molecular change and prevents the part from becoming brittle, he says.

"The hardness stays the same, but for some products the wearability improves," Thompson says.

He adds, "I think the second biggest misconception (about cryogenics) is that we increase the hardness of the steel parts we treat," he says. The wearability improves "by improving the microstructure of the material. All of this is the result of our proprietary deep cryogenic process."

The word cryogenics means the study of extremely low temperatures and how they affect different materials, Thompson says.

"In our case we use the word cryogenics to describe the process we use to improve the wear characteristics in metals and plastics," he says.

The fine details about the process, or the tricks of the trade, are closely held secrets, and Thompson doesn't want others picking up on how Down River achieves its results.

He says he keeps detailed records of the products he treats, and that helps reproduce the results.

"We do everything exactly the same way every time," he says.

Thompson's space at the Panhandle business center includes a small office area and a slightly larger garage area where the cryogenic chamber, large blue temper oven, and liquid nitrogen tanks are located.

The tidy garage space includes shelving stocked with parts waiting to be tested or treated, and the office has a putting machine and is adorned with a few photos of successful elk hunts.

This month, Down River has cryogenically treated slicing knives for a Boise food processor, increasing the life of the knives by 400 percent, he asserts.

For an Idaho turf-maintenance company, Down River treated mower blades. Prior to the treatment, Thompson says, "They would have to sharpen the blades each day. Now they sharpen them once a week."

Down River now is in the process of testing a mining company's carbide drill bits.

Thompson says he is working with between 150 and 200 customers and potential customers.

There isn't a lot of competition in his field, he says. The dealers who supply him with his large tanks of liquid nitrogen have told him that cryogenic treatment businesses usually last a couple of years and die, due to their inability to master the process well enough to get repeatable results. He already has made it that far, he says.

In a licensing agreement with a separate but similar company, Down River Cryogenics LLC, based in Jefferson, Ark., the operation here generally seeks customers in the western U.S., though the bulk of its customers are in Idaho and Washington, Thompson says.

He says he got into the business after meeting Michael Pate, the owner of the more than 10-year-old Arkansas company, who talked him into giving the business venture a try. At the time, Thompson was working for Lacey-Harmer Co., of Portland, which makes equipment for the wood-products industry and others. Thompson, a Coeur d'Alene resident, was commuting to Portland each week for work.

Thompson says that with his background as general manager at Lacey-Harmer and in dealing with metal parts, he saw the potential for a cryogenics treatment business right away. The idea of staying in North Idaho to work also was appealing, he says.

Thompson says he hopes to expand the business in the future, and plans to install a larger cryogenic processor as demand grows. He says the Hayden company is in the running to get three large contracts, and if it gets the work, it might need to hire additional workers.

Also, Thompson and Pate are looking to attract other entrepreneurs to open Down River Cryogenic locations. The new locations would pay a licensing fee to Pate, he says.

He says he enjoys the cryogenic treatment business, as it makes for interesting work. "It's hands on. And you can see the results at the end of the day. It's rewarding"

He adds, "I think it holds such huge potential to save people money. It's so broad based, and there are so many industries" that could be served.

Thompson, 59, says he doesn't see himself retiring.

"I could see having enough employees someday where I don't have to come in every day," he says.