What Is Forging?
Forging is a manufacturing process that goes back centuries—all the way to blacksmith days. It involves heating a metal alloy and shaping it into different configurations.
Today, however, forging is a precise science that requires a high degree of skill and specialized machinery. It is used primarily to create stronger parts and components for machinery, vehicles, and tools.
Types of Forging
According to Mike Frizzell, the Plant Manager at Martin Tool & Forge, a division of Martin Sprocket & Gear, Inc., there are several different types of forging processes that can be used to create machine parts and components:
- Hammer forging
- Press forging
- Closed-die forging
- Open-die forging
- Ring roll forging
Frizzell’s team primarily uses hammer forging, where a large machine rams down on a red-hot piece of steel, guided by a highly skilled operator. They also use press forging, where a hydraulic machine “squishes” the steel into shape, using sheer tonnage.
More: Need a Custom Gear?
Why Use Custom Forging?
Forging allows you to get better performance and longer life out of a tool or component. For many businesses, that can be a critical difference in production rates, efficiency, or profitability.
The forging process also creates parts with very high-impact strength and structural integrity, making them ideal for harsh working environments and conditions—such as running through the mud, snow, or salt water.
“Usually, we’re forging components with a high failure rate,” Frizzell said. “We can actually triple—or even quadruple—the life of the part. For a highly competitive industry, like oil and gas, that advantage can be significant.”
How Does Custom Forging Work?
“When we get a request for a forged component, our engineering group gets involved, as well as a metallurgist,” said Frizzell, who can work from a drawing, sketch, photo, or old part. “We might make several different protostyles in different materials and send them out into the field to see what works best.”
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What Components Can Be Forged?
Frizzell’s team has forged everything from tractor parts to hand tools—as well as lug holders for earth movers; pump components for fracking; gears for mining; parts for seeding machines; and hubs and adapters for power transmissions.
Who Uses Forged Components?
Martin Tool & Forge has made components for almost every industry, including:
- Manufacturing
- Agriculture
- Oil and gas
- Construction
- Waste recovery
“This is an industry that’s not going away,” Frizzell added.
About Martin Tool & Forge
Martin Tool and Forge is a division of Martin Sprocket & Gear, Inc., and has been a leading supplier of quality forged products since 1917.
Learn more about Martin Sprocket & Gear
Get custom forging for your part or tool
Call Tim Zerger, Business Group Director for Bearings, PT, and Gearing at IBT Industrial Solutions, at (913) 261-2140 or tim_zerger@ibtinc.com.
