DIY cold forging equipment drawings. Homemade fixtures and cold forging machines

Looking at the fences, gates, gates of various cottages, a person who has no idea about blacksmithing tools, working in a smithy, asks: where does this money come from? A person who is versed in blacksmithing will answer him that such things (metal furniture decorations, swings, benches) are made using cold forging devices.

The cost of cold forging is not too high. This is due to low equipment costs and high processing efficiency. A blacksmith who does this type of work can quickly start making good profits. Probably, some owners of cottages make all the fences and gates themselves, because cold forging can be carried out in a garage or a shed without having any special skills.

The main thing you need is homemade cold forging equipment. If you want to make various items out of metal, you will need five to seven types of equipment. It is possible to make three to five machines with your own hands for cold forging. Before you start making, you need to learn the basics of working in a forge.

Stamping, forging, bending

Cold forging differs from stamping in that the material practically does not flow under the action of the tool. Look for a beer can or an aluminum / tin kettle, for example. They are squeezed out in 1 blow of the punching device.

Cold forging differs from hot forging in that the part is not heated before processing. The workpiece is riveted, as it were, hitting it many times. The metal structure changes significantly. The surface strength increases and the middle becomes more viscous. Handicraft craftsmen value carriage wheel rims and rail parts very much.

Metal is riveted with a conventional hammer. Making it yourself is easier than making a homemade cold forging machine. However, such forging is still different from work hardening. During its implementation, the metal structure does not change much.

There are various types of cold forging machines nowadays. An electric drive is rarely used, because the increase in efficiency caused by it often does not justify the difficulty of creating, spending on electricity. For cold forging, machines are divided into:

twisters - form flat spirals and other curls with a narrow middle;
torsion - make it possible to create a screw twist of the bar and parts from volumetric spirals (filaments);
stamping-inertial - with their help, they spill shaped tips, stamp decorative clamps to combine patterned parts, squeeze out relief elements on long products;
bending - processing is carried out by pressing, pulling or a combination of these methods. In the first case, waves, zigzags are made, in the second - rings, curls.

In various books, especially English ones, all home-made cold-forging machines with their own hands, which form products by means of twisting / curling, are often called twisters. Originally, the twister was used to wind springs. However, it is more correct to believe that the twister is a coiling device, and the torsion bar is a twisting device.

Gnuts

In a do-it-yourself cold forging machine, a bunch is a device designed to produce zigzag elements. By replacing the roller / wedge, it is possible to change the zigzag angle within a certain range.

A bend for pipes, rods up to sixteen millimeters is cheap. It is difficult to make it in a domestic environment, because pinpoint processing is necessary. Try using an ordinary electric drill to make a hole in the wrench. But the load in the gnut is much greater. In view of this, it is easier to acquire a gnut. It can be used both for do-it-yourself forging and for the production of parts of welded metal structures, bending of small pipes.

Twisters

Since ancient times, blacksmithing masters have produced curls according to a mandrel template by means of a lever-type gripper. This method is ineffective, however, it makes it possible to create various bending mandrels from an ordinary metal strip without much difficulty and time consuming. The thrust arm prevents the template from sliding under the pressure of the workpiece. The horn of the bypass must be sliding with fixation. Processing will proceed more slowly, but with greater precision.

Another homemade contour bending tool is a sturdy board with support pins. They can be ordinary bolts. It is possible to process a strip of up to six millimeters. It all depends on your physical strength. Bend the strip "by eye". The process is quite slow, but it is possible to create a wide variety of patterns.

Snails

One of the varieties of the twister (forging machine) is the snail. It is very common among people who are engaged in artistic forging. The snail has a simple design, available for making at home. In addition, it is easy to operate and multifunctional. The snail machine is ideal for forging. From itself it is a bending arm, which is slightly improved and mechanized. This cold forging equipment is divided into 2 types.

With a share

The scheme of operation of this device for cold forging is as follows:

The snail turns.
The workpiece is fixed to the device.
By means of a spring, the roller is pressed against the part.
The snail rotates clockwise (levers are used).
The fixation is removed, the snail rises, the finished curl is removed from the device.

The advantages of such a twister are as follows:

It is possible to process parts without special equipment. This is due to the fact that the vertical load on the floor of the room is quite small.
The support is quite simple to make, you can weld it from ordinary metal profiles.
It is possible to work alone. Turn the collar with one hand, with the other press the strip against the share.
It is possible to make spirals with five turns.

Lever

Such hand-held cold forging machines have a design similar to a pipe bender. They are less efficient than collar devices. The load is quite large. In view of this, a strong base made of special steel is required. By turning the lever until it is jammed, it is necessary to move the pressure roller. You can create up to four curls on a snail. Such a manual do-it-yourself cold forging machine has the following features:

All elements, with the exception of the pressure roller, can be made of ordinary steel.
The pressure roller can be a standard roller bearing.
The base of the machine is capable of serving more than a thousand working cycles.
It is possible to bend both by template and by spacers.
It is possible to quickly change the shape of the manufactured product, to make reverse folds.
The end of the workpiece can be fixed by placing it in a template recess. Expansion is carried out by welding or folding.

Torsion bars

This tool for cold forging makes it possible to increase the efficiency and increase the quality of the manufactured products. The working force is large enough, therefore, a high strength base is needed. A backbone I-beam frame from one hundred millimeters or a pair of connected channels will do. On the supporting surface, the base must be securely fixed by means of the legs attached to it.

The part (a bar in the shape of a square) is fixed with mandrels with sockets. Due to the fact that the bar decreases in length during twisting, the chucks in the spindle element and tailstock must be well secured with screw clamps. The tailstock must be sliding.

If the device is necessary for the manufacture of, for example, a small fence, then you can make a machine for cold forging with your own hands from scrap, improvised means.

Electric drive

Working on a non-electric powered torsion bar is tiring. It is almost impossible to achieve good quality. This is due to the fact that it is difficult to manually achieve a uniform torque. In view of this, it is better to use an electric drive, which must be installed in the forging tool. The drive can be made from improvised means (semi-axle of the drive axle of a car with rear-wheel drive, gear differential pair). The engine is 1.5-3 kW, 900 rpm. You can familiarize yourself with other options by watching the corresponding videos on the Internet.

Wave and zig zag

How to make a cold forging machine, through which it is possible to create wavy and zigzag elements? To do this, you need rolls made of tool steel / chrome-nickel steel. Limiters are placed in the arc, making it possible to create an accurate wave profile.

If you install a special gate on the snail, you can create waves. The handles are the same. They are screwed into the thread sockets on the collar head. It is recommended to place the main roller separately, fasten it to the base with cap screws.

Forged products must be combined into one whole. The easiest way is to weld and then smooth the seams with a grinder with a stripping wheel. It has a greater thickness than a cut-off one, copes with bending forces. Parts that are connected with shaped clamps look much better. Stamping is carried out from a strip of one and a half millimeters. The clamp blank is made in the shape of the letter "P". Its wings are bent from the back by means of a hammer. For staining, special enamels and paints for metal products are used. Pigmented enamels are more expensive, but they are not prone to flaking, fading, wear and thermal deformation.

The loads that the cold forging press carries, especially the impact loads, are quite high. This requires precise machining of the workpieces. In view of this, it is better not to try to make such a device using a drawing of a cold forging machine. You can only make a manual rolling mill yourself. However, steel rolls, rollers and bearing bushings will still need to be purchased.

If you are serious about getting into blacksmithing, try making a twister or torsion bar. The drawings for a cold forging machine are quite simple, even a person who is very remotely familiar with blacksmithing can understand them. Drawings of machine tools can be found on the Internet or ask friends who are engaged in blacksmithing. Of course, the profession of "blacksmith" is less popular today than the same "conductor", but this does not mean that no one is engaged in blacksmithing at all.

In this article I will tell you how to make a cold forging machine with which you can make various decorative elements from metal bars or tires, you can use them to decorate your backyard plot.

In order to make a cold forging machine, you will need:
* Metal corners in sizes 63 mm and 40 mm
* Ball bearing number 6310
* Rod from the front shock absorber from a passenger car
* Bearing from car pump
* Welding machine, electrodes
* Quick-clamping clamps
* Protective welding mask, gaiters
* Locksmith vice
* Ruler, marker
* Can of hammer paint
* Angle grinder and cut-off disc
* Safety glasses, earmuffs and gloves
* Masking tape

Step one.
First of all, we measure 70 mm from the base of the shock absorber rod; for greater accuracy, we make markings with masking tape.

Now we take in our hands an angle grinder with a cut-off wheel installed in it and cut off the threaded part from the stem, and then the necessary part according to the markings made earlier. When working with the angle grinder, be careful to hold the tool firmly when cutting and remember to wear personal protective equipment such as ear muffs, gloves and safety glasses.

Step two.
After sawing off the rod, you need to pull the bearing out of the automobile pump.
This can be done in two ways, sawing the pump body with an angle grinder, and then gaining full access or extracting it on a press. We choose any method we like, if the case is not a pity, then the first option is also suitable.

Step three.
We fix a metal corner with a size of 63 mm in a metal vice, then from it, using an angle grinder, we saw off two identical blanks 150 mm long each, these parts will be the base of the tool.

I will clarify that the length was taken solely because of the size of the available vice, if you use this device on a workbench, then instead of a corner, you can use a sheet of metal.

Now you need to slightly modify the sawn off parts of the corners using an angle grinder, at the end of processing the part should look like this.

The rounded edges are designed to give the instrument a beautiful look and also to reduce the risk of injury when working on it. We cut off the 40th corner with a grinder, its length should be 250 mm, we make the same roundings at the edges as with the previous corner, and in the structure itself we cut out a small square at the end.

Step five.
The parts for this homemade product are completely ready, it remains to fix them to each other in a certain order using a welding machine.

It should also be noted that the presence of a bearing from the pump is not a mandatory item; if it is absent, you can freely install a trimmed shock absorber rod in its place.
Let's go directly to welding parts. When working with the welding machine, be careful, do not forget to wear a welding mask and leggings, so as not to catch "bunnies" and not get burned.
First, we fasten the large corners to each other and weld them together.

Using a hammer, remove the formed slag in the place of the weld.

Next, we weld the bearing to the outer race of the bearing with the number 6310, fixed in a vice.

Step six.
Now we weld the rod from the shock absorber to the base of two corners.
We weld the handle from the remaining piece of the rod to the large bearing, and for greater strength we weld small metal plates of a triangular shape.

The part with the handle must be welded to the rod, which is attached to the base, for this we put 1 mm thick plates for the gap, this will ensure free movement without jamming even after painting.

Using a welding machine, we weld the inner bearing race to the rod, for fixing we use quick-clamping clamps.

After the part is tacked in several places with welding spots, we weld the parts well, and then we take out the plates and check how the movable mechanism rotates. We weld an angle of 40 mm to the rod and inner race of the bearing, in which a cutout for the rod is just made.

In the end, it remains to clean the homemade product with a metal brush and paint it with a can of hammer paint.
Step seven.
After the paint has dried, the tool can be tested in action.

Admiring the beauty of an openwork metal fence or admiring the incredible twisted pattern on the railings of an iron staircase, few people think that they were made by cold forging. Learning to embody beauty in metal is easy. To do this, it is enough to have minimal skills in working with metal and have special machines for cold forging.
What is cold forging? What machines are needed for it? What can be made on these machines? You will find the answers to these questions in our article.

It would be more correct to call cold forging - mechanical bending of a metal rod on specialized machines, to give it the shape conceived by the manufacturer. The bending of the rods in the machine can be done either manually using levers or using electric motors. In addition to the metal rod, the cold forging method can be used to bend small diameter pipes, narrow iron strips and fittings. Using the cold forging method, the following are produced:

Twisted fences.
Decorations for residential buildings.
Patterned gate.
Railings for balconies and stairs.
Metal garden benches.
Decorations for gazebos and lanterns.
A large number of lattice options.

Elements made by cold forging

Having mastered the method of cold forging, you can easily start your own business in the production of metal products. At the same time, you will only need the initial financial investments for the purchase of machines, and if you make machines with your own hands, then you can get by with minimal costs.

Below we provide you with instructions for self-assembly of cold forging machines.

Machine "snail"

Making a "snail" machine is one of the examples of self-design, while giving advice with an accurate indication of the dimensions of all parts does not make sense. You need to be guided by your idea of \ u200b \ u200bthe machine, how and what will bend, how many turns of the spiral will be enough for high-quality work, what size the lever with the table top will be. If you understand the essence of the manufacturing process of the machine, then the assembly itself will not cause any particular difficulties.

Machine "snail"

Manufacturing of the main units of the machine

Frame.

The process of bending an iron bar exposes the machine to heavy loads, therefore, when making a frame for a "snail", only a metal corner, channel or thick-walled pipe is used. Do not make a frame of wooden beams, such a table does not withstand prolonged loads and collapses.

Table top.

The table top for the "snail" is made of a metal plate cut in the shape of a circle, at least 4mm thick. From the same slab, a second tabletop is cut out, repeating the shape of the first. On the second tabletop, the snail segments will be placed and the products will be bent. In the process of cold forging, the countertop takes on the bulk of the load, so there is no need to save money and make it from a thinner sheet of iron.

Main shaft and lever.

The main shaft is centered between the worktops and is attached to the base using four right-angled triangles. The shaft can be made from a thick-walled pipe of the required diameter.
The lever is attached to the shaft with a ring and rotates around it; in addition, a roller is installed on the lever for bending the rods on the upper tabletop.

Machine diagram

Marking and installation of attachments

Depending on whether you want to produce only the same type of samples or you need more artistic products, there are three options for the "snail" device.
Option number 1.
This is the simplest of the three options, its essence is that a spiral contour is drawn on the tabletop.

Drawing of "snail" segments

At its core, this is a drawing of future products that you will produce on a machine. After drawing the scheme, it is enough to cut out from thick strips of iron of different widths, several segments repeating the line of the drawing and weld them along the markings to the table top. On such a static "snail" you can make the simplest bends.
Option number 2.
The second option is the most popular among home-made machines, it involves the manufacture of a collapsible snail from removable parts. Holes are drilled along the contours of the marking, in which the threads are cut. Further, templates for the stop segments are made of cardboard or plywood and overlays are made of metal from them. Finally, holes are drilled in the pads, which must match the mounting slots on the tabletop. Bolts are mainly used to secure the segments, but you can make cylindrical stops as well. This design of the "snail" will make it possible to produce spiral blanks with different radii on one machine.

"Snail" made of metal strips

Option number 3.
In the third version, instead of collapsible segments-stops, several removable modules are made with different versions of the snail, which are changed as needed. The module is made of a piece of iron on which segments are welded to repeat parts of the spiral.

Snail modules

Assembling the machine.

Install the frame in a place where you will have easy access to the machine from all sides.
Concrete the legs of the frame in the floor or fix the frame in another accessible way.
Weld the main tabletop to the frame.
Install the main shaft by welding it to the worktop and reinforcing it with triangles.
Slide the rotating arm onto the shaft.
Install the top table top by welding it to the main shaft.
Place the snail segments on the countertop.

After assembly, do a test bending of the rod.
To learn more about the assembly of the snail cold forging machine, watch the video:

Torsion machine

This machine is designed for uniaxial longitudinal twisting of a workpiece from a transverse or square bar.

Torsion machine

For the base of the torsion bar, a channel or I-beam is used. A thick iron strip is attached to it by welding, on which a vice is installed to clamp the fixed part of the rod. The vice is secured with four bolts with a diameter of M16 or more. To increase the strength of the clamping of the bar, corrugated sheet steel plates are welded onto the vice. On the opposite side of the base, guide rollers are installed, to which a clamping unit for the movable part of the workpiece is attached. It is made from a steel sleeve, in which it is necessary to provide holes for clamping bolts located at an angle of 120 degrees. The bolts must have a flat end and be made of high quality steel. Both clamping devices must be aligned, for this they must be checked with a spirit level, a plumbing square and a vernier caliper.

Types of machines

Next, you need to make a handle for turning the movable part of the clamp. Its lever should hit as long as possible to reduce the applied force. It is better to make the handle itself with a rubber sleeve to prevent slipping of the hand during operation.
After the complete assembly of the machine, it is checked for the reliability of the operation of the moving elements and the accuracy of the deformation of the bar. After checking, the machine is attached to the base frame.

Simple torsion machine model

How to make a torsion machine with your own hands, see the video:

Gnutik machine

To form a high-quality angle in a product produced by the cold forging method, you need a machine called "gnutik". It consists of a steel plate with a movable stop on which there are two support shafts and a lever.

Gnutik machine

The workpiece is placed between the wedge and the support shafts. After that, with the help of the lever, the wedge is displaced towards the shafts, which leads to bending of the workpiece.

Computer model of the machine

It is quite simple to make such a machine, the main thing is to follow the given drawing and use tool steel, since a large load is exerted on part of the device during operation.
You can also watch how to make a gnutik machine in the video:

Wave machine

It would be more correct to call this machine a controlled wave. The equipment of the machine consists of a pair of steel discs with a diameter of 140 mm, which are bolted to the working tabletop. The axis of rotation of the universal wrench is fixed on the drive disc.

Wave machine

The wave is controlled by changing the distance between the discs. When rolling the bar around the drive disk with a knob, a pattern is formed, after that, the bar is removed from the conductor and a pattern is formed on the other side.
You can watch the work of the machine in the video:

Machine - press

A press is required to form the tips of the rods. This machine works on the flywheel principle, at the beginning, by rotating the bar with weights, the screw firing pin is pulled back until it stops. After that, a replaceable stamp is inserted into the slot and the workpiece is placed. Next, quickly spin the bar in the opposite direction and leave it to rotate freely. In conclusion, the firing pin hits the shank of the die hard, due to this, a force sufficient for punching is developed.

Rolling press

As for the manual rolling mill, you can make it yourself, but you still have to order - special steel rolls, bearing bushings and shafts, and buy gears in the store. Only “goose foot” and “leaf” tips can be made on such a machine.

Connecting and painting parts

Elements produced by the cold forging method are connected in two ways:

Welding - parts are welded to each other, and the scale is grinded off with a grinder or other grinder.
Clamps - this type of connection looks much more beautiful. For clamps, stamped metal strips with a thickness of 1.5 mm or more are used.

Finished products are painted with blacksmith's enamels or acrylic-based metal paints.

Joining parts by welding

Products made by cold forging

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the options for products that you can make using the cold forging method:

The fence element is completely cold forged. Clamps are used to connect the parts. The following machines were used for manufacturing: "snail", torsion bar, "gnutik" and "flashlight".

Soda bench - made by cold forging and sheathed with wood. Welding and clamps are used to connect the elements. In the manufacture of machines used - "snail", torsion, press.

Balcony railings - production method - cold forging. Railing elements are connected by welding and clamps. Used machines in production - "wave", "snail", press.

Stair railings - made by the cold art forging method. The parts are connected by welding. The machines used in the production - torsion bar, "flashlight", "snail".

Visor - the frame of the visor is made by cold forging. The parts are connected by welding. In the manufacturing process, we used machines - "snail", "wave", press.

Brazier is a simple design made using the cold forging method. Clamps and welding are used to connect the parts. Brazier elements were made on machines - torsion bar, "snail".

Double bed - cold forging was used for the backs. The connections are made by welding and clamps. In the manufacturing process, we used machines - "snail", "wave" and a press.

As you can see from all of the above, the cold forging method does not require large financial costs and is quite easy to learn, so if you decided to start learning blacksmithing with this method, then you did the right thing.

One way to decorate plots is to use forged products. 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 was not done in a forge and not with a hammer and an anvil, but with the help of some devices that allow you to create a variety of patterns and products from metal strips and square bars. To make such products, you will need cold forging machines. Some of them can be made with your own hands, others are easier to buy.

Fences, railings for stairs and balconies - you can also do it yourself. Railing for the porch is a decoration, and not an exclusively utilitarian device

What devices are used in general

Cold forging is characterized by various curls, bends, twisted rods, etc. Almost for each type, they are made on a separate device - a certain machine. Their drive can be manual, or electric. For small volumes "for oneself", hand-held cold forging machines are used. Although they are not particularly productive, they are much easier to manufacture. If it is necessary to put the production "on stream" make similar devices, but with electric motors. In this case, it is almost not necessary to physically work, but the complexity of making the device increases significantly. In our article, let's talk about hand-held cold forging machines.

What devices are used:

Torsion bars. With their help, tetrahedral rods or strips of metal are twisted in the longitudinal direction. It turns out twisted columns, which are also called torsion bars.
Lantern. On this device, the bar is also twisted in the longitudinal direction, but it is also additionally bent in the transverse direction. It turns out something like a flashlight. Hence the name of the device.
This is how they make a "flashlight"
Twisters or snails. Forms flat curls of different diameters.
Snail cold forging attachment - for curling
Bending machines or bending machines. Allows you to bend bars or fittings at the required angle anywhere.
For bending anywhere and at any angle - benches (bending machines)
Wave. In fact, this is also a gnut, but of a more complex design - it allows you to change the direction of the bend, getting wavy details.
"Volna" machine - for the formation of the appropriate relief
Devices for processing the ends of parts - inertial stamping machines or other home-made devices.
Machine tools for bar ends shaping. In this case, a goose foot

For the novice craftsman, the most relevant cold forging machine is the snail. Only with its help you can do a lot of interesting things - from a fence and a gate to a bench and other similar products. In second place in terms of need is a torsion bar machine. It adds variety to the details. All the rest can be acquired or made as you improve and gain skill.

Homemade "Snails"

In fact, it is modernized), but these improvements make it easy to make curls from fairly thick rods (up to 10-12 mm) and repeat them with a high degree of accuracy.

These machines for cold forging have several designs, but the easiest to implement is the version with a round table with a central leg. A lever with rollers on bearings at the end is movably fixed to the leg. They facilitate the bending process.

The table surface can be made of steel sheet with a thickness of 10 mm or more. Any thick-walled round pipe can be used for the leg. It is important to make the structure stable, since lateral forces will be applied, therefore side posts, spacers, as well as a stable base are needed.

Drawing machine for cold forging "Snail"

The lever is easier to make from a square pipe with a thick wall - not less than 2-3 mm. The cross section of the pipe is 25 * 40 mm or so. Fastening the lever to the leg can be done on a bearing, or you can simply take a small piece of a thick-walled pipe of a larger diameter, put it on the leg, and weld a stop strip from below so that the lever does not fall down. The version with a bearing gives an easier movement, but in the presence of lubrication, the second option is working.

The shape of the lever is also important. The lever is double, the upper part is working, the lower part is supporting. Wherever there are connections, it is advisable to add gain, since the efforts are significant.

A mandrel or a conductor is fixed on the table - the shape along which the curls are bent. They are made of different diameters so that curls of different diameters can be made. Such mandrels can be prefabricated - to form more bends. Each such sample should have rods that fit into the holes in the table. This is how this pattern is fixed. Also, its shape should be designed in such a way that the end of the bar is well fixed in it.

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

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

Torsion machine

As already mentioned, these cold forging machines allow you to make longitudinal bends on the bar. This is a relatively uncomplicated construction. The main task is to fix one end of the bar motionlessly, to attach a lever to the second, with which it will be possible to twist the workpiece.

As a basis, a cut of a profiled pipe with a thick wall (at least 3 mm) is suitable. The retainer can be welded from the same rods, leaving a square gap of the required diameter. You can use a wire clip of a suitable size (available at a rigging store). Any of these stops are welded to the base.

Wire rope holder - great bar retainer

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

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

Video about homemade fixtures and cold forging machines

A homemade cold forging machine can come in handy if you like tinkering and you are not averse to making something beautiful with your own hands for a country estate, home interior, for gifts to relatives and friends, or just for the soul.

The majestic appearance of forged products attracts with graceful lines and mesmerizes the eyes. Since ancient times, in all the best houses, one could certainly see such ornaments as metallic openwork curls. Even today, when a huge amount of various materials and technologies have been developed, forged products have not lost their relevance.

Products made by forging are used in design along with glass, plastic and other decorative elements. Metal forging takes place in a cold or hot way. To carry out the hot forging process many special conditions must be met, because it is very difficult for her to study at home. Artistic cold forging is a more affordable way. It is much easier to learn it, and if you wish, you can make homemade cold forging machines with your own hands.

Cold forging process

Cold forging requires two main processes:

Press;
bending.

To carry out these activities, you do not need to tell the metal any temperature. But a certain heat treatment still has to take place between stages of work.

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

Products made with a homemade cold forging machine are much stronger than those made or cast by stamping. This is due to the fact that the metal rods that pass through the tooling are pressed together to give them the required shape. With this forging method, you need avoid mistakes, since they are practically irreparable. 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 like balcony canopies, handrails for stairs;
grilles for windows;
fences and fences;
home furniture - tables, chairs, beds;
elements that are used in the design of the house: fireplace lathing, tripods for flowers.

During hot forging, the master needs not only a 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 the same type of products with your own hands, everything can be done using stencils and a drawing. Thus, it is possible to significantly reduce labor costs and shorten 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 production plan before performing work, it will be superfluous to have a video lesson and make a drawing of the future product.

Tools and equipment

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

twister;
snail;
gnutik;
wave;
globe;
Lantern.

Many names will seem funny, but they are pretty handy for homemade use.

The main tool for work will be a gnut, 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 coiling steel rods. This is a tool for bending bars, strips, tubes, squares and profiles to a spiral shape, products with various shapes and radii. While using this tool you can not limit the created spiral in the radius and make the amount that is required.

The flashlight tool is needed to bend metal parts. With the help of it, metal rods are processed, the cross section of which is less than 30 mm, or square profiles with a cross section of less than 16 mm.

With the help of a device such as a wave, wave-like curved elements are made. Apply it and for pipe processing which have a hexagonal or circular cross-section.

The twister is somewhat like a flashlight. With these two tools, you can twist the rods around the axis.

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

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

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

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

The bending process consists in bending the part at 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 the curl onto the steel plate, then this sheet is attached to the machine in the holder. The end of the workpiece is set in the slot, the other end is fixed. With the help of a lever, one end of the product is influenced, which must be pulled along all the bends of the plate, which is 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.

Craftsmen often assemble simple devices by themselves, with the help of which rather original products can be made. It all depends on the experience of the master. Consider one of these homemade models to understand the principle itself.

Do-it-yourself snail forging machine

With the help of this machine, home craftsmen make all kinds of rings and spirals, curls, 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 art forging machines, it is required to perform graphic images, templates, sketches, drawings of the future fixture.

To get a more accurate markup, it is best to use graph paper. Draw a spiral on it, which gradually increases the radius of the turns. The same pitch must be observed between the turns. It must be said that this condition must be observed only in cases where the symmetry of the patterns is needed, as a rule, no more than 4 pieces are made.

Also consider what kind of blanks you need to work with. The distance between the turns must be made so that it slightly exceeds the diameter of the metal rods, otherwise it will be difficult to get the finished product out of the machine.

Sheet metal will be needed for the work surface. A thickness of four millimeters is sufficient. Sizing is based on the dimensions of the required parts. To make the shape, you need sheet metal in the form of strips three millimeters thick. This material can be handled with hand tools. It is simply bent into a spiral pattern using pliers.

To create a full-fledged work process, it is necessary to securely fix one end of the product. Here you need a piece of a rod that is equal to the width of the strips. A workbench is required to secure the platform. Often a piece of thick-walled pipe is used as a stand. The main thing - provide maximum fixation, since with cold forging, the efforts are quite large.

Assembling the machine

There are many options to make any cold forging machine. It can be made collapsible, monolithic or solid. With a monolithic structure, the entire device or parts of the "Snail" are welded to the site.

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

Cold forging is especially popular with blacksmithing beginners. To make products in this way, you do not need a well-equipped workshop (you can get by with a garage or a shed), or possessing a lot of experience, you do not need special knowledge about the behavior of metals. As for the devices, then all the necessary machines and tools can be made by hand at home.