The manufacturing industry uses a lot of metal manipulation to get parts and bits needed in a production line. In simple terms, this is called forging. One of the types of forging is cold forging which uses several cold forging gears to get the work done. While there is one type of forging that everyone is slowly embracing, there are many other in the market that you would not know of. If you plan on starting a company that does forging or wants to get materials made for you, here is everything that you need to know about forging. It will help you know what works for you and what will not work.
1. Impression Die Forging
In this type of forging, the metal being forged is pressed between two dies and shaped into whatever item they wanted to create in the first place. This type of forging is common when one wants to create 3D objects that are often very heavy.
2. Cold forging
Most of the other types of forging are done when the metal is very hot, but cold forging does all its forging in either cold or even lower temperatures. It has many processes encompassed in it like cold drawing, extrusions, cold heating, and coining. It comes in handy when one needs to create items with hollow parts like shafts.
3. Open die forging
Open die forging gets its name from the process itself. The metal being forged does not get encompassed into the die itself. It comes in handy when one is forging bigger items. It often uses a hammer to shape the metal repeatedly until the right shape is forged.
Choosing the right type of forging
All these different types of forging can get confusing for you, especially if you have no idea which method works for you. Here are some of the ways you can figure out which method to use.
1. The type of material being made
Different forging processes will work for you based on the material you are working on and the end product. It, therefore, makes sense if you were to get a process that allows you to create whatever material you need.
2. The amount of metal being used
Not all processes can work well with heavy and bigger prices of metal so keep that in mind. Do your research on the type of metal you plan on using and how it worked with the forging process. It goes a long way to ensure that you get the best out of your material.
3. The cost of production
Apart from cold forging, all the other materials use heat, so bear that in mind. It makes sense if you get a process that will not cost you a lot, especially regarding the amount of energy consumed. You can find ways around conversing energy costs as well.
Last thoughts
Metal forging has been with us for a while and will be used for years to come. Getting the right process when you start will ensure that you can get your metal forged without a hitch.