Forging is a manufacturing process where metal is pressed, pounded or squeezed under great pressure into high strength parts known as forgings. It is important to note that the forging process is entirely different from the casting (or foundry) process, as metal used to make forged parts is never melted and poured (as in the casting process). There are basically four methods (or processes) to make a forged part, Impression Die Forging, Cold Forging, Open Die Forging and Seamless Rolled Ring Forging.
Impression Die Forging: pounds or presses metal between two dies (called tooling) that contain a precut profile of the desired part. Parts from a few ounces to 60,000 lbs. can be made using this process. Many of the smaller parts are actually forged cold.
Cold Forging: encompasses many processes like bending, cold drawing, cold heading, coining, extrusions and more, to yield a diverse range of part shapes. The temperature of metals being cold forged may range from room temperature to several hundred degrees.
Open Die Forging: performed between flat dies with no precut profiles in the dies. Movement of the work piece is the key to this method. Larger parts over 200,000 lbs. and 80 feet in length can be hammered or pressed into shape this way.
Seamless Rolled Ring Forging: typically performed by punching a hole in a thick, round piece of metal (creating a donut shape), and then rolling and squeezing (or in some cases, pounding) the donut into a thin ring.
Metal Stampings and Fabrications: sheet metal fabrications and metal forming including forming, stamping, deep drawing, assembly, brazing, painting, coining, and more. Prototype Metal Stamping (one piece to 500 pieces), Short Run Metal Stamping (500 to 10,000 pieces), Long Run Metal Stamping (10,000 to Million pieces). Press capacity of 10 to 400 tons, bed sizes 84" x 48", turret presses, press brakes and laser cutting. Materials: Our operations are capable of working with steel, both stainless and carbon, aluminum, copper and most alloys (thickness' from .002" to .500") for precision metal stamping. Also non-metals such as plastics, woods and composite materials. These materials are often suitable for laser cutting.