People have been processing metal for thousands of years. There are two main processing technologies known: hot and cold forging. The first method requires the use of heating equipment to melt or heat the metal. The second technology is performed using special equipment. Cold forging machines are simple designs that you can make yourself.
Cold Forging Machine
Cold forging process
Cold forging is a simple metal processing process. A blacksmith bends parts using hand tools. The work is carried out using levers that reduce the human force transmitted to the material. The resulting products are stronger than those produced by casting. In cold forging, the machine simultaneously bends and presses the workpiece.
Changing the shape of metal parts without heating is used in the manufacture of:
- bars on windows;
- wicker forged fences;
- garden furniture;
- individual elements of the facade;
- lanterns
Equipment for bending metal blanks allows you to create products of various shapes. Complex metal structures are made from individual parts using a welding machine.
Example of financial calculations
Costs for starting a business - 720,000 rubles.
One-time expenses - 635,000 rubles.
- State registration – 10,000 rub.
- Organization of work space (repair and equipment of the workshop) – 25,000 rub.
- Purchase of a minimum set of equipment and tools – 400,000 rubles.
- Purchase of the minimum volume of raw materials – 200,000 rubles.
Monthly expenses – 85,000 rub.
- Rent of premises – 15,000 rub.
- Salary fund for employees (2 foremen) – 50,000 rubles.
- Utility costs – 10,000 rub.
- Other expenses - 10,000 rubles.
The average markup is 200% on the cost of production. In a fiercely competitive market, this is the most common markup on cold forging products.
For example: it costs 535 rubles to produce 1 m of lattice for a garden 2 m high. (metal – 500 rubles, anti-corrosion paint – 15 rubles, electrodes – 20 rubles). To this amount is added the corresponding share of current expenses (85,000 rubles/250 products per month = 340 rubles).
The planned markup is added to the resulting amount (535+340=875 rubles). As a result, the minimum cost of 1 meter of grating is 2,600 rubles.
Types of machines
There are different types of forging machines that can be used to change metal workpieces. These are lever-type structures that you can assemble yourself. To do this, you need to understand the principle of operation of individual models.
Snail
This is a manual unit for creating curls and spirals from a metal rod. Homemade snail cold forging machines are present in many workshops. To bend small workpieces, a special cam mechanism is used.
Torsion bar
Cold forging devices used to twist metal rods of different sizes. A blacksmith can bend one rod in a spiral or combine several into one. It is a cast base on which two types of vices are attached. Some are stationary with a collar, others move along the base. The vice is designed to secure rods. Next, the blacksmith twists the gate to the desired position.
To twist several workpieces together, equipment with installed motors is used. Such designs reduce human effort when working with workpieces to a minimum. Mechanized units bend metal parts more efficiently.
Gnutik
This is a manual machine for forging metal. It is considered the main mechanism for bending rods at different angles. The design of a machine for forging metal consists of a metal base on which two fixed shafts are fixed, and a moving part between them. Using a moving element, the blacksmith selects the angle at which the workpiece will be bent.
Gnitik machine
Wave
Manual equipment. Allows you to bend metal workpieces according to the waveform. It is a series of metal disks that are located in one straight line. The distance between them can vary depending on the required wave bends.
Press
To make flat ends on metal products, a homemade press is used. It consists of two disks that are connected to each other by a gear system. The reinforcement is fixed at one end between the disks. The blacksmith starts the rotation using a handle.
What will you need at the start?
Practical steps to organize any business should begin with state registration . The procedure is described step by step in the law “On State Registration of Legal Entities and Private Entrepreneurs”. In accordance with the law, a person engaged in entrepreneurial activity and receiving a permanent income must register as an individual entrepreneur or LLC.
Selecting a room
The room must first meet all fire safety requirements. The minimum workshop area should be 20 square meters. m . In addition, electricity must be installed.
Manufacturing
Assembling homemade machines for cold forging with your own hands does not cause much difficulty. You can make a cold forging machine with your own hands in several stages:
- Prepare drawings. If this is a multifunctional universal machine, diagrams of individual elements can be found on the Internet. Combine them in one drawing, mark the places of fastening and wires. Don't forget to indicate the sizes.
- Prepare tools and consumables. For example, to make a snail you will need a cam mechanism, a spiral made of carbide metal. For a wave you need metal disks, for a torsion bar - a vice.
- The next stage is assembling the structure on which other parts will be attached. To connect metal parts, you must use a welding machine. The seams are cleaned using a grinder and covered with a protective compound.
- Movable elements are fixed to the finished structure, which will interact directly with the workpiece.
- Before you start working, you need to check the reliability of the fastenings.
Despite the variety of drawings and instructions, often the quality of homemade machines leaves much to be desired, and given the amount of time spent, many choose the option of purchasing factory equipment.
Prices for cold forging machines are now at a very low level thanks to the Stancraft company, which has developed and launched into mass sale a universal set of hand-held machines so that any summer resident could afford them.
On their official website stancraft.ru there are such machines as “Snail”, “Torsion + Basket”, “Gnutik”, “Profilebending”. If you want to start working on machines as quickly as possible, the easiest way is to order on the website stancraft.ru.
Do-it-yourself cold forging: machines, drawings, video
It is quite simple to make convenient and functional cold forging equipment, guided by the basic principles of its operation and purpose. Any drawings, videos and photographs of structures always leave room for the author’s creativity and perfection of the finished product. Below we will dwell on the main points that are important for assembling machines.
Cold forging machine design, preparatory work
The first and main condition for assembling a cold forging machine with your own hands is drawings. You will need several such graphic documents:
- drawing of the base of the future machine for installing equipment;
The location of the guide elements of the snail machine for cold forging
- assembly diagram or several diagrams for each device being performed;
- drawings of replacement parts, if they are provided for in the design.
Important! At the design stage, it is worth considering how moving parts and components will move in the finished product. This is especially necessary when making replaceable working tools, for example, a snail or a bender.
To assemble a homemade cold forging machine, you will need the following tools and materials:
- medium-carbon thick sheet steel (grade not lower than 35);
- thick-walled pipe having a square or rectangular cross-section;
- metal cutting machine (preferably portable) or grinding machine;
- manual fastening tool;
- welding;
- milling cutter;
- bending device;
- measuring and marking tool.
Creating spirals from various blanks on a snail machine using the cold forging method
Helpful advice! In order for products made by cold forging to be of fairly good quality, it is necessary that the parts of the homemade machine are also of high quality. To do this, all welded joints, cut ends and finishing surfaces are carefully ground.
How to assemble a torsion bar machine for cold forging with your own hands
Some craftsmen do simple twisting without a machine, clamping one end of the workpiece with a vice and rotating the other with a regular collar. With this method, the workpiece can not only twist, but also bend, especially in the area of the fixed end. To prevent this from happening, a guide structure is constructed in the form of a narrow gutter, for example, from a pipe with an upper longitudinal cut (U-shaped section). It is worth considering:
- length of the gutter - it should be shorter than the workpiece, which will shrink when twisted;
- width of the gutter - it is necessary that it be 1.5 times wider than the workpiece, since it will expand when deformed.
Model of a torsion cold forging machine for creating twisted elements
You can get the desired result without a machine - for this you will need to apply physical strength and spend a lot of time on work. For those who do not like this option, it is more advisable to take up a universal equipment project.
It is possible to assemble a torsion bar forging machine with your own hands in two versions: simple and universal. A simple model will be an improved method of working with a vice, and a universal one has the ability to additionally perform such elements as a lantern or a basket.
Related article:
Do-it-yourself cold forging as a separate art form
Selection of tools and materials for forging. Tips for beginning metal artists. Description of the forging process, features and warnings.
The main working force required to deform the material will be taken by the support, so the base of the future machine must be strong. An I-beam or a pair of channels welded together are suitable for this purpose. Stability of the base will be added by paws made of a similar profile, welded to the overall structure. Next, you can start making other components - the tailstock and spindle.
Torsion bar machine with a base of two square rods
In each of the components of a homemade cold forging machine with your own hands, the cartridges intended for placing workpieces in them must have strong screw clamps (for the purpose of reliable fixation). Due to the reduction in the length of the workpiece when twisting, the tailstock is always sliding. It is possible to construct a headstock from a vice, securing them to the base with bolts of a standard size of at least M16. On the same axis with the clamping unit, a bushing is installed for the moving part of the machine, in which holes for the clamping bolts are pre-drilled.
The moving part of the spindle is rotated by a handle consisting of 4 levers, which are of sufficient length to absorb the force applied for rotation. You can add rubber grommets to protect your hands from slipping.
The main difference in assembling a universal homemade cold forging machine is the design of the moving part. It should provide for screw feed when making lanterns and baskets and be fixed during normal twisting of the metal. Therefore, the moving part is equipped with a set of two spindles - smooth and screw. In this design, the sliding headstock requires a locking screw for fixation.
Production of twisted rods on a torsion bar machine using the cold forging method
Helpful advice! If it is necessary to make a workpiece that is not twisted along its entire length, but only in certain areas, limiters are added to the design of the machine. They are made like a tailstock - with screw clamps and the ability to slide.
Working on a torsion bar machine is physically tiring, and it is difficult to obtain high-quality products in large quantities. Therefore, introducing an electric drive into the design would be an appropriate solution.
How to make a cold forging machine
The bending machine is monumental, massive, simple in design and assembly, but difficult to find and fit parts. Its purpose is to bend workpieces at different angles, so the force on all components will be equally large, which means that the requirements for assembly parts are high.
Production of rectangular bent structures by cold forging on a gnitik machine
A thick steel frame is selected for the base of the machine. It is worth considering that the machine will be mounted on a table. Usually the fasteners are made with a bolted connection, for example, like a vice. There is a guide in the center of the frame that will be movable. It is driven by an eccentric mechanism, which, in turn, is fixed to the base frame. Additionally, three stops are installed, creating a kind of “fork” - these are the working elements of the structure. Depending on the bend profile, they are changed: round rollers - for making waves, “hammer” - for forming corners.
Working elements are made only from structural steel. Their strength is the reliability of all equipment. Processing and fitting of such products require exclusively professional equipment. Therefore, if there are difficulties in ordering, purchasing or manufacturing the main components, then it would be advisable to buy a machine for cold bending forging in a store. Its cost is low, but it can be additionally useful for bending pipes.
Model of a bending machine for the production of angular or wave blanks using the cold forging method
Do-it-yourself snail machine for cold forging: design options
The algorithm for assembling a homemade cold forging machine with your own hands is quite simple and understandable. Only when creating a snail, three variants of the design idea are possible, and even then very approximate. Each master sees the execution of a curl or spiral, as well as the sequence of bending the workpiece in his own way.
Like any creative process, making a snail for cold forging with your own hands begins with the basics - designing the key components of the machine. In this case, these are the frame, tabletop and main shaft with a rotation lever.
The upper part of the machine is a snail for cold forging with removable guides
The frame or table for the snail must be made of metal. Wood is completely unsuitable for this design: prolonged and heavy loads will destroy it after several uses. The material used would be a corner, thick-walled pipes or a channel. For the tabletop you will also need metal - a sheet with a thickness of at least 4 mm: the thicker, the more reliable. The shaft and lever are the main assembly that will force the metal workpiece to bend according to a given pattern. The lever is connected on one side to a roller that bends the workpiece, and on the other to the main shaft.
According to the type of design, snail machines come in three variants:
- monolithic with a fixed bending template;
- with removable bending structures that allow you to create different types of curls;
- with collapsible curl designs and a rotating tabletop for obtaining complex bending profiles of great precision.
Installing guides on a snail cold forging machine
Drawings of a cold forging machine for a snail with your own hands
Many craftsmen who take on the manufacture of machines for the first time neglect the design stage, build templates “by eye”, and develop and modernize components directly during the assembly process. A drawing of a snail for cold forging with your own hands should be done at the preparation stage. It will help to avoid some subtle nuances during assembly, and will also significantly reduce the manufacturing process time.
It is not necessary to follow the drawings made by another master. The availability of manufacturing materials or assembly conditions may vary, and it is likely that the vision for the finished structure may also be different.
One of the design options : 1 - snail ploughshare; 2 - base of the machine; 3 — pressure roller; 4 — lever for controlling the pressure roller; 5 — fastening the base; 6 — finger for fixing the plowshares; 7 — groove for the pressure roller; 8 — control lever axis; 9 — spring for pressing the roller; 10 — clamp for the workpiece; 11 — leading ploughshare of the snail; 12 — main axis; 13 - levers Diagram of a snail machine for processing products using cold forging
A drawing is especially important for constructing curl patterns with your own hands. A video of cold forging equipment will help you correctly calculate and build a proportional spiral. This stage is necessary so that the curl made on a homemade machine has an aesthetic appearance.
Helpful advice! Templates for the snail are built according to the rules of mathematical spirals, taking into account the number of turns, their density, the width of the opening for equipment on the machine and the initial radius of the entrance to the curl.
Making a snail: how to make a machine with your own hands
A monolithic machine is the simplest design of a snail. The spiral pattern is applied directly to the tabletop. Then, following the drawing, several pieces are cut out of thick metal. They are welded to the tabletop, following the previously applied markings. Work on a snail of this type progresses slowly, but the machine allows you to bend both workpieces of symmetrical diameter and strips of metal that are laid flat, without vertical deformations.
Monolithic snail machine for creating products using cold forging
A monolithic machine may have an alternative design when the base is not fixed, but can be rotated. A worm mechanism is used for a given rotation and to facilitate physical labor.
How to improve a snail cold forging machine with your own hands
A homemade snail does not have to contain only simple elements. You can immediately assemble an improved model. For example, what should you do if you need curls of different shapes, and with different patterns of spirals? It would be impractical to assemble a separate machine for each sample. Therefore, instead of a tightly welded single template, a number of removable options with different patterns are created on the tabletop. Adjustments are made to the design that allow you to change the template, secure it stably, while maintaining the overall reliability of the machine.
Making a curl using the cold forging method on a snail machine
The most professional of the snail models is a machine where the table top rotates and the curl template is made from several collapsible segments. It is worth noting that all sections are manufactured with high precision. It is difficult to implement this in a home workshop, so the production of the unit is ordered in workshops or at a factory. The curvature of the template is changed using adjusting screws, and a number of holes are made on the surface of the tabletop that will fix the template segments in a given position. You can bend any type of curl using this method.
Making a cold forging machine with your own hands, the drawing of which will help you complete this task, is quite simple if you understand the principle of its operation and design features. It is important to calculate everything carefully and take measurements. It is possible that someone will be able to come up with their own new options or improve existing models.
Exploitation
In order not to damage the material and equipment, you need to know a number of features. Blacksmiths give the following recommendations:
- Before starting work, you need to check the integrity of the fastening elements.
- Moving parts must be periodically lubricated with engine oil. This will ensure reliable operation of the equipment.
- To make it easier to bend metal workpieces, you can preheat the material.
- When bending parts, the movements should be smooth. Homemade machines are not as reliable as purchased equipment.
- You cannot hope for high accuracy of a homemade unit.
After welding the metal structural elements, you need to clean the seams.
Coat them with an anti-corrosion compound. Individual parts of metal structures are produced using homemade equipment for cold forging. The blacksmith places them on the workbench as they will be located in the finished product. After that, he must connect them using a welding machine. Homemade machines for cold forging are popular in private workshops and garages. Blacksmiths use them to make various forged products of complex shapes. Assembly does not require any additional skills. It is enough to make a drawing, prepare materials, tools, and carry out step-by-step assembly.
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 is a good option for beginners.
