Worth-It Tips and Ideas for Designing Granny Flats

Different steel fabrication techniques give you different results. So, you should investigate manufacturing techniques before you make a final decision. In some cases, forging is a solid choice. How does forging work and what are its benefits?

What Is Metal Forging?

Forging is one of the oldest ways to fabricate metal. Here, you use a compressive force via a die or hammer to shape the metal the way you want. You don't melt the metal, although you might heat it up if you use a hot forging process. If you use cold forging, then you typically work at room temperature.

What Are the Advantages of Forging Metal Parts?

If you need to fabricate metal to a specific strength, then forging is a good option. Some other fabrication techniques can't create truly strong results; however, forging actually adds strength to a finished metal.

This is down to the fact that you don't melt the metal during the fabrication process. When you exert die or hammer force on the metal, its grain texture changes. The texture moves to follow the compressive force you apply.

This grain deformation strengthens the metal. It enables the internal structure to follow the flow of the forged shape and to stay the same inside all over the piece. So, you create parts and products which are generally tougher than those produced by alternative steel fabrication techniques such as casting or machining.

Forging also gives you more versatility when you shape steels. Forgers and machines can turn metals into almost every kind of shape. So, you can easily create one-piece shapes and designs.

If you used other, less versatile, techniques, then you might need to manufacture items in different parts. You would have to make all the parts individually before connecting them together.

For example, you might need to weld pieces. If a part has jointed areas, even if they are as strong as welds, then it does lose some of its overall strength. One-piece parts don't have this problem as they don't have any joints to weaken their structure.

This also speeds up the manufacturing process. If you can manufacture in one piece, then you don't have to spend time joining parts together at the end of the production process. As soon as your forging is done, your items are ready for use or for sale.

For advice on whether forging is the right solution for your manufacturing jobs, contact steel fabrication specialists.