Method of soaking steel pieces

In the method of heat soaking elongated cold steel ingots by passing said ingots sequentially through a preheating chamber and a soaking furnace, said soaking furnace extending perpendicularly to said preheating chamber and communicating therewith and from which a portion of the heat is transferred to the preheating chamber, the improvement comprising the steps of feeding the ingots to said preheating chamber with their longitudinal axis parallel to and moving in a direction normal to the axis of said furnace, and thereafter during movement through said preheating chamber and without change in the position of the longitudinal axis of the ingot relative to the axis of the furnace effecting a first translatory motion changing the direction of movement of said ingot to move parallel to the axis of said furnace, a second translatory motion to change the direction of movement of said ingot to move normally to the axis of the furnace, and a final translatory motion to move the ingot into said furnace in a direction parallel to the axis of the furnace.