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Cold forging machines

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How to Make a Machine for Manual Cold Forging

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How to make a homemade cold forging machine with your own hands?

Forged hardware They add color to any interior and look very aesthetically pleasing. But not every home or dacha owner wants to have the standard solutions that the market offers. In addition, forged decorative elements are very expensive.

Homemade cold forging machine

Hot forging requires serious skills, equipment and work space. The ideal solution to implement your designer fantasies are devices for cold forging. Not everyone can afford to buy such machines, but making the device yourself is not so difficult.

1 Advantages of cold forging

When processing metal using this method, heating is not required. Consequently, no furnaces, no temperature control, no skills in working with hot metal, no special work areas, etc. are required. In addition, there is no danger of serious burns.

Cold forging devices involve bending and pressing of metal. Machines for performing these processes can be either electric (you will need an electric motor and gearbox) or manual. They are easy to make with your own hands and easy to maintain. The design of the units themselves is absolutely elementary, but it is worth knowing that the process of hand forging itself requires considerable effort from the worker.

Unlike decorative elements obtained by processing hot metal, a cold forged product can always be remade if necessary. It unbends as easily as it bends.

To give a curved shape to metal on a machine, high temperatures are not required

The method of creating decorative elements from metal without heating is very convenient when you need to make many identical elements. In this case, a homemade machine is made under specific element with specific dimensions and template actions are performed.

The bending machine significantly saves time, effort and financial expenses for the equipment of the premises and the actual performance of metal processing work.

1.1 Purpose of the device

The cold forging machine allows you to perform absolutely all work, which is performed by a blacksmith in processing hot metal. Hand tools will cope perfectly with the production of such decorative elements as:

• window grilles;
• elements for handrails of stairs, benches, chairs;
• legs, frames and other elements of home furniture;
• elements of various fences, gates, wickets;
• flower stands, fireplace grates, shelves and much more.

In the cold forging process, exclusively soft metals are used, such as aluminum, duralumin, steel, copper, brass, magnesium and nickel alloys.

Examples of products made using the cold forging method of metal

1.2 Types of units

To create a decorative forged metal interior, you will need several types of parts. Among them are spiral-shaped rods, arcs, spirals, and various sheet metal elements.

It is almost impossible to make a universal machine for cold forging with your own hands, so to create each element you will have to make a separate device. Such devices include the following units:

1. Gnutik. A bending machine allows you to produce metal arcs curved at a certain angle.
2. Snail. This device is designed for bending reinforcing and profile bars into a spiral.
3. Twister. A tool for bending a rod into a spiral along its axis.
4. Wave. A device designed for bending a reinforcing or profile rod into a wave element.
5. Ring. Bending machine for making rings and ovals.
6. Press. A device designed for flattening metal products.
7. Hammer and anvil. Very useful universal tools that allow you to correct defects.

All units designed to perform the above tasks can be either manual or electric.

Snails for bending metal rods in a spiral

To operate the latter, you will need an electric motor and gearbox. Electric machines, having a motor and a gearbox, perform work much faster and make the lot easier for the worker himself.
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2 How to make a cold forging machine at home?

Making a machine of any of the above types with your own hands at home is very simple. This does not require any tricky tools or expensive mechanisms and materials. Everything you need for such a device can be found in almost any garage.
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2.1 Materials and tools

Regardless of what kind of device you plan to make, you will need the following materials:

• sheet metal thickness 4-5 mm;
• reinforcing bars, profile bars or profile pipe;
• stable bed;
• if we are going to make it not manual, but electric bending machine, you will need a low-speed motor and gearbox.

Homemade cold forging machine

To organize the process of manufacturing a unit for cold forging, you need to stock up on the following tools:

• “grinder” for cutting metal elements (if you don’t have one, use a metal file);
• welding machine;
• emery stone and sandpaper;
• vices and pliers;
• paper, pencil, marker;
• tape measure or centimeter.

2.2 Manual machine “snail”

Spiral-shaped elements are most often used to create a “forged” interior. Therefore, we will begin our consideration of the production process with the snail machine.

A homemade electric unit will require, in addition to regular dialing parts, use a motor and gearbox. The gearbox is used to reduce engine speed. But we'll talk about this later. In the meantime, let's look step by step at how to make a hand-held device.

Note also that one machine can make spirals different diameters, but for this you will need a removable snail. This can be achieved in two ways: solid metal removable circles with a welded scroll, or one circle with removable parts of the spiral.

1. First we need a piece of paper and a pencil. We draw the snail we need on the sheet, maintaining all the actual dimensions. It must be taken into account that the thickness of the lines in the diagram must correspond to the thickness of the metal, which is taken to make a spiral(ideally 4-5 mm), and the distance between the turns should be 12-13 mm (for cold forging, rods up to 10 mm are used, which should fit freely into the groove).
2. From sheet metal with a thickness of 4 to 10 mm, cut out a circle with a diameter of 70 cm. If you plan to make only small spirals, the circle can be cut with a smaller diameter. If the elements are larger, cut a circle larger than 70 mm. If the circles are removable, try not to take very thick metal (4-5 mm is enough), since changing the circles will be very difficult.
3. IN manual version the circle must be permanently fixed to the frame, since bending the metal around a spiral using a lever is much easier than rotating the circle. Before welding the circle, you need to weld a metal rod with a diameter of 20-30 mm to the frame and put a bearing on it (all this can be found in old car parts).
4. We are making a bed. It can be made of any material. Main requirements: 1) the frame must be strong and firmly fixed to the floor (the best option is to concrete the legs). 2) the base should not protrude beyond the working circle in diameter.
5. Let's return to processing the working circle. We need to attach the snail elements to it.

Homemade manual machine Snail for cold forging

The entire snail should consist of three parts. Let's return to the drawing and draw a radius from the center of the drawn spiral to its end. This line will point us to the segments of the spiral. We make the tail part of the snail 10 mm high (according to the maximum thickness of the rod). For each next turn we add +10 mm. Thus, the second turn is 20 mm, the third is 30, etc. If you want to obtain forged elements with a large number of rings, therefore you will need more spiral elements.

For a machine with replaceable wheels. We take all the elements of the snail and weld it to the working circle according to the diagram. We make circles of other diameters in the same way.

For a device with a replaceable volute. We measure the location of each snail in turn, weld studs to each element for installation on the working circle, and in the circle itself we drill holes for each element of each snail.

Forging snails begins with the central coil. Here the rod should be tightly secured. A small vice can be used for fastening, butt key and much more.

We make a lever for bending. To do this you will need two strong pipes. Profiles with a cross section of 15-20 mm are suitable. We weld them together with jumpers. The length of the jumpers is equal to the distance from the middle of the bearing to the top of the circle +50 mm. We weld the finished lever to the bearing. We cut the lower tube of the lever along the contour of the circle and weld a rod with a diameter of 20-30 mm and a length equal to the length of the highest central part of the cochlea to it. The bending barrel is welded perpendicular to the surface of the circle.

The homemade apparatus for cold forging is ready. You can lay the rod, fix it, rest against it with a bending barrel and walk around until you get the desired product.
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2.3 DIY cold forging machine 3 in 1 (video)

2.4 Electrical analogue

The only difference is that the engine must rotate the working circle through a reduction gearbox. The bending barrel is welded directly to the circle without affecting the gearbox. Otherwise, the manufacturing principle of the unit is absolutely identical, and the gearbox and electric motor only complement it.

A do-it-yourself cold forging machine will not only save you money, but also provide an opportunity to earn money

Metal curls made by cold forging are used to decorate exterior elements.

Products are popular with owners country cottages and utility services involved in the architectural arrangement of public spaces.

You can also use these elements in the manufacture of individual devices - barbecues. street furniture, and even dishes.

Such decor, and especially finished products, are very expensive. Even standard kits, put on stream and sold in stores - have an unaffordable price. What can we say about products made to order.

Therefore, many home craftsmen try to create such creations on their own. Moreover, “cold forging with your own hands” does not involve classical forging technology. Processing of the workpiece material is carried out without the use of heat and work with a forging hammer. This means that it can be done at home.

However, such work requires special tool– bending for cold forging. The equipment is offered in stores, or is manufactured in workshops to order. The set for universal metal processing is a whole complex of various devices.

Firstly, this is a truly unique tool that allows you to create highly artistic products, without a hammer, blacksmith's forge and anvils.

Secondly, from plain metal Such devices are not made, otherwise the machine will fail at the first load. Therefore, high-quality and durable steel increases the price.

Let's look at various homemade devices for cold forging

Let's start with the principle of operation of the tool:
The workpiece (metal circle, square or strip) is installed in the machine between the guides. Using a lever manual or gear electric drive, a change in geometric shape occurs.

There are several standard fixtures that are templates for cold forging.

This is an improved analogue of a pipe bender. With its help, the workpiece is bent at a programmed angle. It can be either single or form geometric shapes. Decorative element It can be flat or voluminous, and all this is done by one tool. Using a bender, you can make an arc from a straight workpiece.

With its help, the workpiece is tightened with a screw. Works on the spindle principle lathe or drill chuck. Part of the workpiece is firmly clamped in a stationary vice, and the other is twisted using a crank or electric drive.

Design feature - a fixed vice must be able to move longitudinally.

When twisted, the part decreases in length and can jump out of the fastening.
If instead of one rod you insert a bundle of wire into the machine, you can get a three-dimensional steel figure, the so-called basket. Its manufacture requires special skill.

The most popular device is the snail.

The most common template for cold metal working. With its help, curls of any shape and with different quantities rpm Its design is simple and complex at the same time. It is not enough to simply create a template of the desired shape.

It must be possible to remove it from the finished element upon completion of work. Therefore, inserts for forming a curl must consist of several elements.

Another type of cold forging is roller wave.

The workpiece processed by this machine takes on a waveform with identical sinusoids. With a properly configured wave bender, you can create bent rods of any length, since counter waves do not interfere with each other during processing.

An equally popular device for cold forging is ring winding.

In fact, this is a drum of a certain diameter that winds a workpiece around itself, which rests against the “pawl”.

The result is a real spring, which is then cut into rings. The coils are crimped flat, and closed hoops are obtained.

The matrix itself is not difficult to make, the main thing is to have high-alloy steel. The problem is to create the necessary pressure on the workpiece. You can create a structure based on a powerful jack.

With the help of such a press, the effect of real hot forging is obtained.

Rarely used - Globe.

A device for creating an arc of a fixed size while simultaneously processing the ends of the workpiece. Necessary for relatively mass production of similar parts. To make a single arc, you can get by with a “bend”.

In addition, there are additional accessories for riveting, crimping staples, so-called press embossing, and other related tasks.

Any of these devices can be made in a home workshop

However, it is better to get access to more “heavy” machines, for example, in the tool shop of any plant.
For production you will need:

• Grinder, for processing relatively thin metal;
• Oxygen (or preferably plasma) cutter, for cutting workpieces with a thickness of more than 15 mm;
• Lathe for making rollers, pulleys;
• Metal milling machine for creating templates of non-linear shapes;
• Drilling machine;
• Powerful emery (sharpener);
• Sander;
• Steel with a high carbon content (old turning tools or parts from a car piston group are suitable for making small templates);
• Bolts and studs for making axles. Strength class not lower than &.3;
• Electric motor with gearbox (if you want to use an electric drive);
• Hardened steel rods for manual cranks;
• Gas burner for heating templates before hardening.

Important! After giving the final shape to the parts of the cold forging machine and carrying out geometric tests, it is advisable to re-harden them. During processing, the metal may “release”.

Before starting work, be sure to prepare drawings. You must set yourself a clear task - to make a universal tool, or a template for a specific product. A fixed-shape template is easier to make and also operational properties(accuracy, structural strength) will be higher.

But if you come up with a new form to decorate a metal structure, you will have to buy a new machine. Therefore, devices (for example, a snail for cold forging with your own hands) are made collapsible. The force mechanism remains constant and the patterns change to different forms finished element.

The diagram of a machine with interchangeable templates is shown in the illustration:

Holes are drilled on the tabletop to secure various templates for spiral twisting of workpieces. The lever with the guide roller is permanently mounted on the machine and does its job regardless of the shape and size of the volute coils.

On the side of the frame there are axles for the “bend”. You can use interchangeable rollers to obtain different radii of the product. Moreover, the same device is used as a roller wave bender.

When creating your own cold forging tool, compromises must be made to reduce the cost of the device without compromising functionality.

As an example, consider a drawing of a hand-made snail

Picture 1:
The driving share of the snail (1) has constant size, and is secured to the sleeve with the knob levers (3). The structure is put on the axle (2). The workpiece is fixed with a pawl (4)

Figure 2:
Additional ones are attached to the driving share (1) using pins (6). Their size and quantity depend on the shape of the workpiece. The entire structure is mounted on a platform (2), which is also a frame.

The lever (4), with the help of a pressure roller (3), wraps the snail around the workpiece, giving it the desired shape. The table is mounted on solid foundation(5), which is preferably bolted to the floor. The roller can be adjusted using the pressure screw (7).

As a result, we get absolutely universal design. Using a screw, we screw the workpiece onto a ploughshare, which can change shape at the request of the master. And using a lever with a roller, we adjust the curl radius. The number of turns is regulated by the rotation of the knob.

Figure 3:
To remove the finished product, we simply turn it in the opposite direction, and the movable plowshares come out of the curl.
Examples of processing workpieces using such a “snail” are shown in Figure 4.

DIY cold forging machine - video examples

Manual version of the machine for cold forging.

If you want to get away from manual labor, then make your own electric machine for cold forging as shown in this video.

Cold forging with your own hands is a hobby that does not lie on your shelf at home, but decorates your home.

DIY cold forging machine: drawing and video

To carry out these activities, you do not need to impart any temperature to the metal. But a certain heat treatment must still occur between stages of work.

It is not necessary to have full-fledged artistic forging machines at your disposal; amateurs often make tools with their own hands. With the help of homemade equipment, you can give all sorts of fancy shapes to the workpieces. You just need to acquire certain work skills. Therefore, prepare for the fact that in order to bend the required figure, drawings and considerable effort will be needed. Work can only be carried out using raw materials of the required thickness.

Products that are produced using a homemade cold forging machine are much stronger than those that are made or cast using stamping. This happens due to the fact that the metal rods that pass through the equipment are pressed together to give them the required shape. With this forging method you need don't make mistakes. since they are practically uncorrectable. With the acquisition of skills, you will be able to create attractive and wonderful products with your own hands.

Using a homemade cold forging machine, you can make products such as:

• elements such as balcony canopies, handrails for stairs;
• bars on windows;
• fences and fences;
• home furniture - tables, chairs, beds;
• elements that are used in home design: fireplace mantels, tripods for flowers.

During hot forging, the master needs not only separate room, but also equipment for blacksmithing, as well as special conditions. With the cold method, there is no need to preheat the workpiece, and the process itself is much more economical.

When processing a large batch of similar products with your own hands, everything can be done using stencils and a drawing. This makes it possible to significantly reduce labor costs and reduce production time. Sometimes parts need to be heated; heating is done at the joints so that there is no curvature. For beginners It is recommended to carefully consider the manufacturing plan before carrying out work. It would be useful to have a video lesson and make a drawing of the future product.

Tools and equipment

A manual cold forging machine includes a number of elements. Necessary equipment that will be needed for work:

Many names will seem funny, but these are quite convenient for homemade use devices.

The main tool for the work will be a bender, which is used to change the shape of the metal. Its function is to bend a part at the required angle or bend arcs with different radii.

The snail is used, as a rule, for twisting steel rods into spirals. This is equipment for bending rods, strips, tubes, squares and profiles to a spiral shape, products with various forms and radius. While using this tool there is no need to limit the radius of the created spiral and make the amount that is required.

The flashlight tool is required for bending metal parts. It is used to process metal rods with a cross-section of less than 30 mm, or square profiles with a cross-section of less than 16 mm.

Using a device such as a wave, wavy curved elements are made. They apply it and for pipe processing. which have a hexagonal or round cross-section.

Twister is somewhat similar to a flashlight. Using these two tools you can twist the rods around the axis.

Using a globe you can make a large arc from a profile rod up to 12 mm thick. Moreover, the ends of the workpiece also bend smoothly.

This tool for cold forging is absolutely not complicated, so you can often see homemade ones. It is almost in no way inferior to the factory one.

Forging machines

Often, when working, it seems much more expedient to make cold forging machines with your own hands. Since not every element can be fully processed using only manual forging equipment. Yes and the price of this equipment is quite high. even when it comes to the simplest snail machine.

If a home craftsman makes a product using a self-made jig, the product will be unique, although in some respects it will be inferior to the one made in a factory. If you plan to make a large number of parts using cold forging, then it is best to make a conductor with an electric motor. This will make your work process easier.

It will be useful to provide for the production of basic types of work on the machine - drawing, bending and twisting. These devices can be combined when creating a conductor with your own hands.

During drawing, the product is given a certain shape. To do this, it needs to be passed through rollers or a press, and the cross-section of the feedstock will decrease.

The bending process consists of bending the part to the required angle. You can perform this operation using templates. They are made in this way: a drawing of the product is prepared, according to which a template is then made. Weld a curl onto the steel plate, then this sheet is mounted on the machine in a holder. The end of the workpiece is installed in the slot, the second end is fixed. Using a lever, one end of the product is applied, which must be pulled along all the bends of the plate used as a template.

When making a template, the welding seam must be carried out from the outside, otherwise it will interfere with the further operation of the product.

Often, craftsmen themselves assemble simple devices with which they can make quite original products. It all depends on the experience of the master. Let's look at one of these homemade models to understand the principle itself.

Do-it-yourself “Snail” forging machine

Using this machine, home craftsmen make all kinds of rings and spirals, curls, and waves. To make this kind of machine, you need to act according to drawings and technology. which includes a number of stages.

Before making any fixtures, hand tools or artistic forging machines, you must complete graphic images, templates, sketches, drawings of the future device.

To make markings more accurately, it is best to use graph paper. Draw a spiral on it, the radius of its turns gradually increasing. The same pitch must be observed between turns. It must be said that this condition must be observed only in cases where symmetry of patterns is required; as a rule, no more than 4 pieces are made.

Also take into account what kind of workpieces you need to work with. The distance between the turns must be made so that it is slightly larger than the diameter of the metal rods, otherwise it will be difficult to remove from the machine ready product.

Sheet iron will be needed for the working surface. A thickness of four millimeters is quite enough. Sizing is determined based on the dimensions of the required parts. To make the mold, you will need sheet metal in the form of strips three millimeters thick. This material can be worked with hand tools. It is simply bent into a spiral using a template using pliers.

To create a full-fledged work process, it is necessary to securely fix one end of the product. Here you will need a piece of rod that is equal to the width of the strips. To fix the working platform you will need a workbench. Often a piece of thick-walled pipe is used as a stand. Main - provide maximum fixation. since during cold forging the forces applied are quite large.

Machine assembly

To make any cold forging machine, there are many options. It can be made collapsible, monolithic or solid. At monolithic design The entire device or parts of the “Snail” are welded to the site.

Along the length of the structure you can weld small pieces of rods with a distance of 5-6 cm, special holes must be made for them in the working area. Do not forget to carefully secure the ends of the products that you will bend.

Cold forging is especially popular among beginners in blacksmithing. To manufacture products using this method, you do not need a well-equipped workshop (you can get by with a garage or shed), nor the possession great experience, no special knowledge about the behavior of metals is needed. As for the devices, all the necessary machines and tools can be made with your own hands at home.

Home » Tools » Homemade devices and machines for cold forging

Homemade devices and machines for cold forging

One way to decorate areas is to use forged items. Fences, benches, gazebos, stair railings and other similar structures look very decorative. Moreover, in most cases, these products are not forging in its traditional sense. Most often, this is done not in a forge or with a hammer and an anvil, but with the help of some devices that allow you to create a wide variety of patterns and products from metal strips and square rods. To make such products you will need cold forging machines. Some of them you can make with your own hands, others are easier to buy.

Fences, railings for stairs and balconies can also be made with your own hands. A canopy over the porch using the cold forging method. Railings for a porch are a decoration, and not an exclusively utilitarian device. You can make a gazebo and forged furniture. Gates look magical

What kind of devices are used?

Cold forging is characterized by various curls, bends, twisted rods, etc. Almost every type is made on a separate device - a specific machine. They can be driven manually or electrically. For small volumes “for yourself” use manual machines for cold forging. Although they are not particularly productive, they are much easier to manufacture. If it is necessary to put production on stream, similar devices are made, but with electric motors. In this case, there is almost no need to physically work, but the complexity of making the device increases significantly. In our material we will talk about manual machines for cold forging.

What devices are used:

• Torsion bars. With their help, tetrahedral rods or strips of metal are twisted in the longitudinal direction. The result is twisted columns, which are also called torsion bars.

This is what a torsion bar and the machine of the same name look like

Flashlight. On this device, the rod is also twisted in the longitudinal direction, but it is also additionally bent in the transverse direction. It turns out something similar to a flashlight. Hence the name of the device.

This is how they make a flashlight

Twisters or snails. Form flat curls of different diameters.

Device for cold forging snail - for forming curls

Bending machines or benders. Allows you to bend rods or reinforcement at the required angle anywhere.

For bending anywhere and at any angle - bending machines (bending machines)

Wave. In fact, this is also a gitik, but more complex design- it allows you to change the direction of bending, obtaining wavy details.

Machine "Volna" - for the formation of the appropriate relief

Devices for processing the ends of parts - inertial stamping machines or other home-made devices.

Machines for shaping the ends of rods. In this case - crow's foot

For a beginning craftsman, the most relevant machine for cold forging is a snail. Only with its help you can make many interesting things - from a fence and gate to a bench and others similar products. In second place in terms of necessity is a torsion bar machine. It adds variety to the details. All the rest can be purchased or made as you improve and gain skill.

Homemade “Snails”

In essence, this is a modernized bending machine (pipe bender), but these improvements make it possible to easily make curls from fairly thick rods (up to 10-12 mm cross-section) and repeat them with a high degree of accuracy.

One of the homemade cold forging machines

These cold forging machines have several designs, but the easiest to implement is the option with round table, having a central leg. A lever with rollers on bearings at the end is movably attached to the leg. They make the bending process easier.

The table surface can be made from steel sheet thickness from 10 mm or more. For the leg, you can use any thick-walled round pipe. It is important to make the structure stable, since lateral forces will be applied, so side posts, spacers, and a stable base are needed.

Drawing of a cold forging machine “Snail”

It is easier to make a lever from a square pipe with a thick wall - at least 2-3 mm. The cross-section of the pipe is 25*40 mm or so. The lever can be attached to the leg using a bearing, or you can simply take a small piece of thick-walled pipe larger diameter, put it on the leg, and weld a stop strip on the bottom so that the lever does not fall down. The option with a bearing gives easier movement, but if there is lubrication, the second option also works.

Lever mounting option

The shape of the lever is also important. Double lever top part- working, lower - supporting. Wherever there are connections, it is advisable to add reinforcement, since the efforts are significant.

The lever must be reliable, with reinforcement

A mandrel or jig is fixed on the table - the shape along which the curls are bent. They are made in different diameters so that you can make curls of different diameters. Such mandrels can be prefabricated to form a larger number of bends. Each such sample must have rods that are installed in holes in the table. This is how this template is fixed. Also, its shape must be designed in such a way that the end of the rod is well fixed in it.

Variant of conductors for the snail

Often, mandrels are machined from a metal circle of a suitable diameter using a grinder, but there are options made of metal with steel plates welded onto it, curved accordingly.

How to make a similar machine for cold forging is in the next video. There is also a good description of how to bring the ends of the workpiece to a decent state - ordinary raw edges look very rough. There is special equipment for processing them, but, as it turns out, you can do it without it.

Torsion bar machine

As already mentioned, these cold forging machines allow you to make on a bar longitudinal bends. This is a relatively simple design. The main task is to fix one end of the rod motionless, attach a lever to the second, with which you can twist the workpiece.

A piece of profiled pipe with a thick wall (at least 3 mm) is suitable as a base. The retainer can be welded from the same rods, leaving a square gap of the required diameter. You can use a properly sized cable clamp (available at a rigging store). Any of these stops is welded to the base.

Cable holder - great for holding rods

Next, you need to somehow ensure grip and torsion of the second part of the workpiece. This can be done using two bearing units. A pipe of a suitable diameter is inserted inside, and a handle is welded to it on one side - the design resembles the letter “T”. On the other hand, a clamp is made in the pipe: four holes are drilled, nuts for 12 or 14 bolts are welded into them. The result is a good clamp - the bolts are tightened after the rod has been inserted.

Bearing unit Clamp for the workpiece This is what the design looks like as a whole

An even simpler machine for making torsion bars using cold forging is in the next video.

Video about homemade devices and machines for cold forging

1. Stamping, forging and bending
2. Machines and equipment for cold forging
3. Twisters
4. Snails
5. How to build a curl?
6. Torsion bars
7. Wave and zigzag

Looking at the fences, gates and gates, as in the figure, in houses that are clearly not of the elite class, a person who has some idea about the equipment of the forge and the nature of the work there may think: where did they get so much money? For someone more knowledgeable in blacksmithing, such a question will not arise: these beauties, as well as the metal decor of furniture, light garden buildings, swings, benches, etc., created by cold forging.

Prices for cold art forging are affordable because production costs and initial equipment costs are low, and labor productivity is not bad for artisanal conditions. Consequently, an individual blacksmith specializing in artistic cold forging can count on a fairly quick start and good profitability. Perhaps one of the owners of the samples in Fig. I made my own: cold forging with your own hands can be done in a garage or barn without experience, and forged parts for small pieces of furniture, balusters, barbecues and all sorts of other metal utensils (see, for example, the figure on the right) can be done even at home conditions.

The basis of a “cold forge” is a cold forging machine. For a complete production cycle, capable of satisfying any conceivable fantasies of yours or the customer, You will need 5-7 types of machines, 3-5 main ones of which you can make yourself. However, in the beginning, before spending money on a machine or materials for it, it is highly advisable to master the basics of blacksmithing. Therefore, further we will also consider some techniques for making artistic forging parts without a machine and equipment for them, which can be quickly made from scrap materials.

Stamping, forging and bending

So what is cold forging? It differs from stamping in that the metal hardly flows or flows weakly under the influence of the working element. Take a look at a beer can or, say, an aluminum or tin kettle. They are extruded with one blow of the punch of the stamping press; kettle, etc. products complex shape– compound sliding punch. It is impossible to obtain the working force necessary to create such a high pressure at home, except in one case, see below.

Cold forging differs from hot forging, of course, in that the workpiece is not preheated. Actually, cold forging, which is forging, is the hardening (hardening) of a part with a long series of regular blows of a certain force. In this case, the structure of the metal changes significantly: the hardness of the surface layer increases, and the core provides overall toughness and fracture strength. Handicraftsmen - toolmakers and gunsmiths - literally hunt for buffers and wheel tires of railway cars, pieces of rails.

Drawings of a snail machine for artistic forging with a specification of parts are given in Fig. We’ll talk about the dimensions of the links (segments) of the folding share later, but for now pay attention to the steel grades: the share bears heavy loads. If you make it from ordinary structural steel, the template will lead to the middle of the gate or fence section.

Note: For more detailed drawings of a snail machine of a similar design with description and detail, see the link: http://dwg.ucoz.net/publ/osnastka/instrument_dlja_kholodnoj_kovki/5. There you will also find drawings of a homemade bender and a device for bending rings.

The material for the folding rotary share, as well as the complexity of its manufacture, are not the only weak points of the snail machine with a collar. More the problem is more serious joints of the ploughshare links (shown by red arrows in the figure on the right). The joints of the share segments must:

It is difficult to fulfill all these conditions together in a well-established and equipped industrial production, therefore, the resources of folding templates for cold forging are generally much less than their material itself would allow. Poor use of material properties is a serious drawback. Moreover, for the same reasons, another weakness snail machine with a collar - eccentric clamping of the part. Therefore, novice homemade blacksmiths work more successfully with homemade snail machines for artistic forging, made according to a lever design.

Snail with lever

The lever volute for cold forging is designed similarly to the well-known pipe bender. A homemade lever-type snail machine with a fixed template is significantly inferior in performance to a snail with a collar. The working load in it is more fully transferred to the base, so a strong frame made of special steel or a thick plate of ordinary steel, securely fixed to the base, is required. supporting surface. As a result, a workshop or outdoor production area is required. Work on the lever scroll progresses slowly: after turning the lever until it jams, you need to move the pressure roller. It is possible to curl up to 3-4 turns on a lever volute. Nevertheless, the advantages of a snail lever machine for home craftsmen are significant, especially when working for yourself:

• All parts, except the pressure roller, can be made of ordinary steel.
• It is possible to use a standard roller bearing as a pressure roller.
• The use of the material properties of the parts is almost complete: the template and frame made of ordinary steel can withstand more than 1000 working cycles.
• You can bend either according to a template (pos. 1 in the figure below) or using spacers, pos. 2 there.

In addition, the snail lever machine allows you to use technological method, considered the prerogative of industrial twister machines: the template is shifted to the side, and a spacer is placed in the center, pos. 3 in Fig. This creates a small reverse bend in the core of the curl. The part looks more impressive and, when working for sale, the product is more valuable.

The lever snail has another rather fat plus: on such a machine you can bend flat curls with a small core from a strip laid flat. The snail with a collar and a rotating plowshare gives up completely here: the workpiece will go in a vertical wave. Wide curls and rings from the strip can be bent flat on a broaching machine with rollers in which grooves are machined, see fig. on right. But the drawing speed, so that the workpiece does not lead, requires a significant one, so you won’t get a narrow curl core.

On a snail lever machine, this problem is solved by installing a pressure roller with a height equal to the thickness of the strip and with a flange (edge), like a railway wheel, only wider. Bending using this method takes a lot of time: the lever must be applied a little at a time, otherwise the inner edge of the workpiece will wrinkle; The flange does not help from this. But it is impossible to obtain a curl from a flat strip with a narrow core in a handicraft production in any other way.

In general, at the start of blacksmithing and artistic activity or when doing forged fence, gate, gate, bench, swing, gazebo, etc. arranging a garden for yourself, It’s better to use a snail lever machine for cold forging. Moreover, it can be made from scrap materials without accurate and detailed drawings, see for example. next video.

Video: a simple do-it-yourself artistic forging machine

How to build a curl?

There are plenty of sketches of curls for artistic forging on the Internet, but when you try to adjust their sizes to those required for yourself, it often turns out that the product loses spectacularly due to a seemingly insignificant violation of the proportions. Therefore, it is also desirable to be able to construct forging patterns of curls that obviously have aesthetic advantages.

Templates for cold forging of artistic curls - volutes - are built on the basis of mathematical spirals. The most commonly used is the logarithmic spiral; it is one of the widespread natural forms expressing the fundamental laws of nature. The logarithmic spiral is found in the shell of a snail, in our hearing aids, and in the form of a treble clef in musical notation; in the neck of the violin itself too.

The principle of constructing a logarithmic spiral by points is that when the radius that forms it is rotated, starting from a certain initial R0, by a fixed angle?, its length is multiplied by the divergence index of the spiral p. For volutes p, as a rule, take no more than 1.2, because a logarithmic spiral diverges (unwinds) very quickly; on pos. In Fig. a logarithmic spiral with p = 1.25 is shown as an example. To make it easier to build a spiral from points with sufficient accuracy for blacksmithing, is it accepted? = 45 degrees.

In the case when a denser arithmetic spiral is required, when the radius forming it is rotated by the same 45 degrees, 1/8 of the spiral pitch S is added to the previous radius, pos. B. In both cases, R0 is taken equal to or greater than the diameter d of a workpiece of uniform cross-section, pos. A. If the initial end of the workpiece is pointed, R0 may be less than d, up to the plasticity limit of the metal.

It remains to decide how to lay a visually harmonious spiral with a given opening size a. To solve this problem analytically, i.e. using formulas with any predetermined accuracy, you will have to solve cubic and higher degrees. There are no computer programs for numerical technical calculation of volutes on the Internet, so we will use an approximate method that allows us to get by with one working and, possibly, one test graphical construction. It is based on the assumption that for small p the sums R2+R6 and R4+R8 do not differ much. The step-by-step algorithm for constructing a volute for a forging template follows from here:

1. Based on the available material, we determine R0;
2. we take the number of turns of the volute w according to the principle: as God puts it on the soul of the left hind paw of a beloved cat;
3. Using the data from the table in Fig., we calculate the diameter of the volute b such that it is slightly smaller than the width of the opening under it a, see pos. G;
4. We calculate the working initial radius R using the formula for pos. G;
5. we build a volute profile on a scale point by point;
6. if necessary, we accurately adjust R using the same formula and build the profile of the working template completely.

Note: If you use the table to calculate intermediate values, don’t forget – you need to take them in geometric proportion!

Torsion bars

You can twist rods with a screw for artistic forging without a machine at all, see fig. on right. To prevent the workpiece from bending at the root (clamped in a vice) end, you need to place a wooden block or something like it with a V-shaped cutout at the top under the end of the guide pipe farthest from them; It is better to secure the pipe to this support with a clamp, and secure the stand to the workbench. The pipe should be shorter than the workpiece and approximately 1.5 times wider inside than its largest diameter, because When twisted, the workpiece contracts and expands in width.

A torsion cold forging machine allows you to increase productivity and improve the quality of the resulting parts. The working force in it is transferred to the support to a significant extent, so a strong frame is needed, in the form of a spinal frame made of an I-beam from 100 mm or a pair of welded channels of the same size; the corrugated pipe will apparently be deformed. The frame must be securely secured to the supporting surface using paws from the same profile welded to its ends, pos. 1 in Fig.

The workpiece - a square rod - is held by mandrels-chucks with sockets as well square section; they are visible there in pos. 1. Because When twisted, the rod shortens in length; the chucks in the spindle and tailstock must be securely fixed with screw clamps. For the same reason, the tailstock is made sliding. To allow twisting of individual sections of the workpiece, a sliding stop with an insert with a square hole is also used.

If you only need to make a fence for yourself or something smaller, you can quickly build a torsion bar machine from scrap and scrap materials, pos. 2. On both machines, in principle, it is possible to produce filaments by placing a bundle of 4 rods half the size into the cartridges. But don’t think that you can make a good lantern or basket by simply pushing it with a lever tailstock. You will get something like the one in the inset in pos. 1 and 2. Blacksmiths call such incidents a word that is generally known, but not used in literary speech. The branches of the filament, when twisting it in a simple torsion bar machine, must be spread out in width with a hand tool, which is difficult and does not ensure the proper quality of work.

Beautiful filaments (pos. 3) are twisted on torsion bar machines with a fixed tailstock and a screw feed spindle, pos. 4. Now let’s return briefly to Fig. with types of machines at the beginning, to pos. 2 on it. See the thing marked with a green exclamation point? This is a replacement spindle. There are 2 of them in the set: smooth for spiral twisting along the long axis of the workpiece and screw for twisting filaments. In this design, the frame is welded from a pair of channels with a longitudinal gap, and a shoe with threaded hole under the locking screw. A shoe is needed with a sole from 100x100, because The tailstock fixation in filament mode is frictional and only partially jammed: the locking screw provides only an initial clamping force.

About the electric torsion bar drive

Working on a torsion bar machine with a manual spindle drive is tedious. But the main thing is stable quality of products such as in pos. 3 fig. with torsion bar machines, it is even more difficult to achieve. The reason is that it is difficult to create a uniform torque in a circle with your hands, like with any other lever drive. Therefore, a torsion bar machine for cold forging is exactly the case when the use of an electric drive is justified no matter what. The best option from available materials is the axle shaft of the drive axle of a rear-wheel drive car with a gear pair from the differential from the same place, see fig. on right; Just don't forget about the protective casing! Motor - 1.5-3 kW and no more than 900 rpm. Other design options are also possible, see eg. video clip:

Video: homemade electric cold forging machine

Spiral like a spiral

In some cases, ordinary smooth, straight, ascending spirals are used as an element of artistic forging. Making a spring twister machine for this on your own is absolutely unrealistic. But let us remember: there is no need to spring a spiral in a forged pattern and it can be wound from ordinary plastic steel using simple device(see picture on the right). The pitch (ascent) of the spiral is determined by the horn of the gate (filled in red); By bending the horn up and down, you can get thinner and thicker spirals. A square bar is taken onto the workpiece or a round one, it doesn’t matter. You can also twist spirals from a rod twisted on a torsion bar.

Wave and zigzag

Now we have tools and equipment for wave and zagzag bending of long workpieces. The bending machine and push-pull bending machine mentioned at the beginning cannot be reproduced with your own hands. In addition, the first allows you to adjust the pitch and profile within relatively small limits, while the second is expensive. However, you can still make a universal wave bending machine with your own hands, similar to the one on the left in Fig. You only have to order rollers; they must be made of chromium-nickel or tool steel; the rest is made of simple construction; for the staples and arch, a sheet (strip) of 8 mm or more is needed. Limiters are installed in the arc to accurately maintain the wave profile, but the workloads are transferred to it to a significant extent; in fact, the arc provides lateral rigidity of the structure.

You can bend only smooth, but very diverse, waves by adding a gate for waves to a snail machine with a rotating plowshare, on the right in Fig. The same handles are used, because they are screwed into threaded sockets on the head of the gate. It is advisable to make the main (central) roller separate and fasten it to the frame with bolts with countersunk heads. In this case, by placing rollers of different diameters (diameters), it is possible to form waves of variable and asymmetrical profile. And if the deflection roller is made adjustable (for which a number of holes are checked in its carrier), then the wave pitch can be changed within a fairly wide range.

About connecting elements and painting

Forged parts need to be assembled into a single composition. The simplest method is welding and subsequent smoothing of the seams with a grinder with a grinding wheel: it is thicker than a cutting wheel (6.5 mm) and can withstand bending forces. But connections with shaped clamps look much more impressive; they are stamped from a strip of 1.5 mm on an inertial stamp; You can also hot-forge quite quickly and without experience, see below. The clamp blank is made in the form of a U-shaped bracket on a mandrel to the size of the parts to be connected, and its wings are bent from the rear in place with a large plumber's hammer or a 1.5-2 kg sledgehammer when cold. The finished product is usually painted with blacksmith's enamels or acrylic paints on metal. Enamels with pigment from forge patina are more expensive, but better: when dried, they have a noble, somewhat antique color, do not peel off, do not fade, are wear- and heat-resistant

How to get around a stone

Those. the stumbling block in all of the above: shaped ends of the rods; Without them, a fence is not a fence, a gate is not a gate, and a wicket is not a wicket. An inertial stamping press (item 3 in the figure with types of machines) is expensive, but effective. It works on the principle of a flywheel: first, by smoothly rotating the rocker arm (bar with weights), the screw firing pin is pulled back until it stops. Then a replacement stamp is inserted into the socket and the blank is placed. Next, they quickly spin the rocker in the opposite direction (this is a dangerous moment!) and leave it to rotate freely - the working stroke has begun. At the end of it, the striker hits the stamp shank very hard; Due to the inertia of the loads, a force sufficient for stamping is developed.

The loads, especially impact ones, in an inertial stamping machine are large and occur over small areas, and the precision of manufacturing its parts needs to be high, so it’s better to do it yourself and not try. It is possible to make a manual rolling mill yourself, see fig. on the right, but only partially: rolls made of special steel, shafts and bearing bushings will have to be ordered, and gears will have to be bought or looked for used ones. On such a mill, you can only produce goosefoot and leaf (spear) tips, and from their necks it will be immediately clear that this is machine work.

Meanwhile, the same, and some others, rod tips can be hot-forged without being an experienced blacksmith. Good, obviously self made the tip-sheet is simply forged with a sledgehammer and a hammer, and the forging stamp (stamp) for the legs is made from an unusable file, in which grooves are selected with a grinder. Do you need a forge for this? For occasional small work it is not at all necessary; the main thing is to heat the metal. A propane torch is not suitable; heating should be uniform on all sides and without burnout. So, we come to the conclusion that cold and hot forging are not mutually exclusive: in order to obtain high-quality products using simple machines for cold forging or even with improvised means, it would not hurt to add a small forge from scrap materials in addition to them.

Looking at houses, most often suburban ones, people can often see beautiful gates, interesting fences and other metal patterns. If we remember that a forge is required to create metal products, the question arises of how the master accomplished this interesting decor? Do-it-yourself cold forging is a great way to create such things.

The final price for artistic forging products is low, because both production costs and equipment costs are low. At the same time, the quantity and quality of products are maintained at a high level. Therefore, a blacksmith who decides to start earning money on his own will quickly recoup his initial investment. Particularly enthusiastic home owners themselves can set up an analogue of a forge in their garage. Cold forging metal at home is extremely simple, and some small forged parts can be made even at home.

In production you cannot do without machines. To deploy a fully equipped cold forge, you will need about seven machines of various types. Moreover, five of them allow handicraft production of houses. But, as in any serious matter, before you start creating, you need to familiarize yourself with the basic rules. There are also some techniques that allow you to produce the necessary parts without machines. These can be considered first.

Forging, bending and stamping

How does cold forging of metal differ from, for example, stamping? In stamping, the material does not spread at all or does so very weakly. As an example, you should examine the beer can - it was knocked out with a single blow from the head of the stamp press.

If this is a complex product such as a teapot, then the punch will be of a sliding shape.

Naturally, at home it is very difficult to operate these presses and it is difficult to make forged parts with them.

If you compare cold forging with hot forging, the differences are immediately visible. With cold option raw material no heating required. In essence, forging of this type is the hardening of a workpiece with many blows using the necessary force. At the same time, the structure of the material changes: the outer part becomes harder, and the inner part contributes to increased durability and viscosity of the part.

Riveting is done using a mechanical hammer. You can make it yourself, in some ways it’s even easier than making some machines for artistic forging.

Cold artistic technique- This is bending or bending a metal workpiece. The structure of the part itself does not change significantly, and the redesigned physical and mechanical parameters do not have a serious impact.

Necessary tools for artistic forging

The basis of cold forging is made up of some types of machines using manual drive.

They come in the following types:

• Twisters - used for twisting parts. The curls formed have a narrowed core part.
• Torsion machines are called torsion bars. Twist the workpiece into a volumetric spiral, for example, onions or baskets.
• Inertia-stamping - the ends of the metal rods in them are splashed along the selected style; clamps can be made that connect parts of the pattern. On long parts, this machine is capable of extruding small disturbances and relief.
• Machines for bending material. They exist in several variations: push-type – produce zigzags and waves; lingering - squeeze out curls and rings with a thick and wide core (core); combined - can do all of the above.

Gnutik

A machine for bending parts is simply called a bendik among technicians. But in metalworking at the amateur or private level, all machines and devices that produce zigzags or waves are called benders. Depending on the roller or wedge located, the zigzag angle, height and pitch of the wave can be changed.

People can make a machine for bending metal at home, but it requires special parts that need very precise processing. Therefore, it is better to buy a bender, because its functionality is not limited to just waves and zigzags - it often helps in the production of some parts for welded metal structures.

Metal patterns

Curling machines - twisters

Requires special machines for each type of bend. To curl products using cold forging, a pattern was previously used - a lever-horn grip.

It has its advantages: the speed is much higher than other methods and the production itself is not difficult. And its disadvantages: this method requires the presence of great physical strength and is no different high speed labor.

Hand forging with such a machine requires a steel strip. The thrust part of this type of lever holds the workpiece in the required position, and specialists can make the bypass horn sliding and with additional fixation - the manufacturing time will increase along with the accuracy of the curling.

The second type of device for cold forging with a bend is also not very complicated. This is a particularly strong board with support bolts from M8 to M24. To a much lesser extent depends on physical strength, but it is still required.

The workpiece is bent for a long time and according to independently created drawings or without them.

This allows you to create whatever your heart desires, for example, epic heroes for fans of Slavic fairy tales or Buddha, if a person is interested in oriental arts.

Snail

The snail for cold forging is a further development of twisters.
Became the most common type due to simple device and extensive opportunities. Very easy to make yourself. They have a high level of comfort when working. Essentially, these are the same machines for cold forging, but somewhat more mechanized and improved. These changes made it possible for even beginners in blacksmithing to work with these machines.

Forging metal with your own hands using a ploughshare:

• first the snail itself rotates;
• then the part is mounted on the machine using a clamp;
• the roller is pressed against the workpiece by a spring;
• The cochlea rotates clockwise and is controlled by levers;
• as soon as the twisting is completed, it is necessary to remove the clamp, lift the snail and pick up the final product.

The following features of a snail with a ploughshare should be highlighted:

• does not require a specially equipped room - the vertical work load is insignificant, and the horizontal work load partially affects the support;
• because of this, complex supports are not required - a simple support made of steel profiles, welded together;
• allows single work - you can turn the gate with one hand, and with the other you need to press the workpiece to the pattern. As production progresses, the parts are automatically put into place;
• allows for cold twisting of spirals up to five turns.

Drawings of cold forging machines can be easily found on the Internet, along with the necessary specifications and documentation. The ploughshare itself requires quality material, because it experiences high loads. Besides required metal, the share has problems with the joints, which must have the following characteristics:

• machine parts must be accurate to maintain the specified shape;
• working parts must come to a dead center, creating a stable shape, immediately after external pressure;
• as soon as the load is completed, the parts should wedge themselves.
• material and design are required to create long-term repeatability of the production process.

Compliance with all technical standards is a very labor-intensive process even in industrial scale. Another place that needs special attention is the workpiece clamp.

Beginners may actually not be able to cope with the production of such a forging machine due to lack of experience, so it is better to use lever volutes.

With the help of such a snail for cold forging with your own hands, the structure is similar to. A homemade machine is seriously behind the snail with a ploughshare in terms of speed. Due to the fact that the load is shifted to the support, it requires special durable materials, which, in turn, are securely fixed to the surface. Therefore, the machine requires an equipped workshop or area for production.

The work is not very fast: if the lever is jammed, you need to move the pressure roller. Allows curling up to four turns.

Has sensitive advantages for artisanal blacksmiths:

• Only the roller requires special materials. The remaining elements allow the use of ordinary steel;
• It is recommended to use a roller bearing for the pressure roller;
• more than a thousand operating cycles provide almost one hundred percent efficiency in the use of parts;
• allows bending along spacers and patterns.

Tricks of the Masters

The use of spacers allows for an instant change in the shape of the final structure or making bends in the opposite direction, which the plowshare does not allow for structural reasons.

Does not require increased precision in the manufacture of parts.

Fastening the workpiece is as easy as shelling pears – place it in a special recess.

Allows the use of a technique that is used in industry - a slight bend in the opposite direction in the core of the curl.

It is possible to use different techniques and bends in forging

Such cold forged products look better and are more expensive.

Additionally, it has a good and convenient advantage - the ability to produce flat bends with a thin core from a workpiece lying flat.

The lever machine allows the installation of a clamping roller at a height of strip thickness and a flange wider than a railway wheel. This method requires painstakingness: the lever must be moved little by little, otherwise the inner edge will be damaged. Unfortunately, this is the only method for making such curls in DIY production.

A machine with a lever is often created without the use of rare or expensive materials and without having accurate diagrams.

Craftsmen recommend twisting rods for artistic forging without using machines at all. To prevent the part from bending at the end clamped in a vice, under the far end, you should use a stand with a small cutout on top where the rod should be secured.

Rotary machines can speed up work and improve the quality of manufactured elements. Since the load greatly affects the support, the stand must be of increased strength, for example, welded together from one hundred millimeters.

The source material is held in place by a square frame. Due to the reduction in the length of the rod, you should carefully check the reliability of the frame. To do this, the tailstock is made of a sliding type. Cold forging of machines implies high quality, otherwise the product will be fragile.

Any tool for cold forging requires careful care, timely repair and adjustment. And hand-made artistic forging requires skill and discipline from the master. All circuits, forging machines and even homemade machines require order and cleanliness.

Architects and designers often use forged elements in their work. Openwork metal grilles covering fireplaces or beautiful balusters on the stairs look elegant and noble.

If you know how to forge and learn this craft, you can create original products yourself.

This activity is suitable for anyone who likes to do physical work and who is ready to get acquainted with the technology and features of choosing a metal.

What you need to know about forging?

Forging is a process of processing a special workpiece. Its purpose is to give the metal the required dimensions and shape. There is a distinction between hot forging and cold forging.

The master needs to get acquainted with both varieties in order to know the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Hot forging method

In the hot method, the metal workpiece is heated strongly. As a result, the metal becomes ductile. Hot forging gives the workpiece the required dimensions and desired shape. The master has a variety of work options available to him.

Heating a metal workpiece also has its disadvantages. First of all, it is necessary to arrange a special room. You will need to buy a forge, for which you will have to buy fuel.

Fire safety rules must be followed; it is important that the master knows how to work with fire.

Having an idea of ​​the temperature conditions used in the forging process, you can easily choose the right type forging

Cold forging method

Cold forging is a labor-intensive process. To achieve the desired shape from a metal workpiece, it is bent, pressed and welded. The technique is a little simpler compared to the hot method.

The workshop does not require a lot of space, and to set it up you do not need to purchase a special forge; it is enough to buy a forging machine.

The manufacturing process of a product involves working with semi-finished products. If a mistake has been made, it is impossible to correct it.

Choosing metal

Metals with certain properties are suitable for hand forging. The more ductile the metal, the easier it is to change its shape. However, ductility is inextricably linked with strength.

An increase in one characteristic inevitably entails a decrease in another. When buying a workpiece, the master must know exactly what its composition is.

Craftsmen make decorative forging elements from copper, steel, duralumin or brass. In addition, alloys can also be used. Information about metals that can be easily forged can be found in the Steel and Alloys Guide.

What tools are needed for forging?

Inventory varies depending on the forging method. A forge with an anvil and hammers with tongs will be needed for hot forging.

For the cold method, you need a “Gnutik” tool, which allows you to bend the workpiece at an angle, and a “Snail” machine for forging, which you can make yourself. The latest machine allows you to create decorative elements with a spiral shape.

Note!

In addition to the basic tools for the cold method, “Flashlight”, “Wave”, “Twister”, a ring machine and others can be additionally used.

The modern market offers industrial machines designed to perform technological operations. In the photo of forging you can see a product made on the “Master 2” machine from the MAH company.

Hand forged

In order for the workpiece to acquire the desired shape, the master must use different techniques and methods in his work. You will need to purchase various tools and master different technologies.

The cold forging method does not require an application from the master special effort. The work includes the following stages:

• creating a drawing or sketching a decorative element;
• procurement of workpieces;
• forging process.

Today, you can make a drawing using a computer program yourself or order it from professionals. The project will allow you to calculate before starting work how much metal blanks you need to purchase.

Note!

The main forged elements are represented by the following groups:

• Paws. The end of the metal rod is given a certain shape.
• Curls. The ends of the rod can be bent in one or two directions.
• Rings. Decorative elements are made from rods with square or round.
• Torsion. It is characterized by helical twisting along the axis.

3 generally accepted technologies are used: drawing, bending and twisting.

• The hood allows you to increase the length of the metal workpiece, reducing the value of its cross-section.
• Bending makes it possible to bend any part of the workpiece at an angle.
• Twisting is a technology in which the workpiece is twisted along its axis. A Twister machine is used for twisting.

All elements are assembled together and secured by welding. These operations are performed on a special table. Homemade forging cold method does not require special skills.

DIY forging photo

Note!

Forging machines are good tool for artistic and creative people who have a desire to create something beautiful and individual in their home to highlight the interior, or can make a good DIY gift for important people. There are two ways to forge metal. To forge something using the hot forging method, you need to make a lot of preparations and steps, so it’s easiest to do it at home hand forging given using the cold forging method. The learning curve for this process does not take much time, and there is a real opportunity to design a machine with your own hands.

The beginning of cold forging with homemade machines.

Cold forging with your own hands requires two mandatory actions - pressing and bending. To perform all these actions, it is not necessary to apply a certain temperature to the metal, but it is still necessary to carry out heat treatment.

To design something with your own hands, it is no longer necessary to have special machines for artistic forging; now you can create machines for forging metal at home. But you still can’t cope with such tools without experience. For all the work to be successful, you need to use metals of a certain thickness.

A homemade cold forging machine can easily be used to create structures that will be much stronger than those made by stamping. Do-it-yourself forged products will turn out to be of high quality when everything is done correctly and without errors, because it is very difficult to correct them. After a few jobs, with the experience gained, you can begin to make excellent designs using homemade cold forging machines and fixtures.

During production large quantity identical metal structures It is best to use drawings prepared in advance. Drawings for do-it-yourself cold forging machines are prepared in advance. In some cases, it will be better to warm up the part in order to get rid of defects in the future. Those who have recently started using homemade machines for cold forging should first think through a work plan, as well as acquire the necessary skills. The help of various video lessons on the Internet, as well as special courses, will not be superfluous here.

Machine components and necessary tools.

A do-it-yourself forging machine consists of certain devices. Among which must be:

1. gnutik;
2. snail;
3. wave;
4. globe;
5. twister;
6. flashlight;

These devices are best to use. You will need a do-it-yourself cold forging snail to weave steel rods. You can look at the photo to better see the design and an example of parts. Forging equipment for cold forging of metal plays out important role at work. The main tool during the work will be a bender. This is a very simple element.

To process pipes with hexagonal and round cross-sections, a “wave” is used. A “flashlight” is used to bend metal rods, and a twister is somewhat similar to it, a very convenient device. A globe is made into a large arc of profile rods.

Cold forging machines are most profitable to do yourself, because not everything can be processed hand tools, and the price for an artistic forging machine is very high. When a master, using his skills and equipment, creates a design, it will be unique and special, even if in some ways it will not be as high quality as the factory one. When manufacturing a large number of parts, it would be correct to create a coductor on an electric motor. This makes the work process easier.
A do-it-yourself cold forging machine must be suitable for types of work such as bending, twisting and drawing.

During the drawing process, the structure takes on a certain shape. Therefore, it must pass through the press, after which the cross-section of the primary material will become smaller. By flexible we mean creating a bend at the desired angle. For this you will need templates. Photos of drawings of forged products with your own hands are prepared in advance from which the template will be made. The curl is attached to the steel plate, and the sheet itself is secured in the machine holder. A slot is placed at the end of the workpiece, and the other end is secured in place. Using a lever, the end of the structure is influenced, which must be carried out along each bend of the plate, which is used as a template.

Video of a homemade machine for bending balusters.

Many experienced manufacturers assemble simple mechanisms with their own hands, which allow them to create unique designs. This is influenced by work experience. Drawings for do-it-yourself cold forging machines can be found in sufficient quantities on the Internet, as well as photos of cold forging products that can be obtained in the end. A photograph of such equipment allows the master to complete the drawing from scratch, if he has experience.

You can consider the “Snail” machine. Using it you can create various spirals or waves. To create such a machine, you need to have drawings for a do-it-yourself cold forging machine of this type, and also do everything in accordance with the technology. The working surface must consist of sheet metal. 4 mm thickness will be enough. Dimensions are set based on the size of the part. To give the shape, sheet metal 3 mm thick and in the form of strips is required. It is bent according to the template with pliers and a spiral is obtained.

To create a normal work process, you need to firmly fix one of the ends of the part. A rod equal to the width of the strips will help with this. To secure the work platform you will need to use a workbench. The main goal of everything is to give maximum immobility to the part, because during cold forging you need to put in a lot of effort.

Before starting the manufacture of any cold forging machine, using hand-made tools, you need templates, sketches and various drawings, including a drawing for do-it-yourself cold forging equipment.

Give more good accuracy Marking can be done using graph paper. You need to draw a spiral on it, where the turns in the radius will increase. Equal distance must be properly maintained between them. This condition will be mandatory only for creating symmetrical patterns.

Machine design.

To create any machine, you can use several options to choose from - collapsible, monolithic or solid. It is recommended to weld small rods along the entire length of the machine. For this purpose, it is worth drilling special holes at the work site. It is necessary to securely secure the ends of the parts that will bend.
This forging method is very popular among blacksmith beginners.

Using a machine for cold forging of metal made by hand, an inexperienced craftsman will be able to make forged balcony canopies, handrails for stairs, various window grilles, fences, numerous home furniture, fences, various forged accessories and decorative items that complement the interior of the premises, on similar to grates for fireplaces. This a good option for beginners.

Collection of drawings of cold forging machines.

Drawing for a snail with a ploughshare.

The drawing shows the device of a bending scroll with a plowshare and the rules for working with it.

Detailed drawing snail machine

Drawing of a device for bending the “Clamp”.

Drawing of the Gnutik device.

Video of cold forging equipment for small businesses.